the guilty ones
by grim grace
Summary: An AU klaroline multific, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, Klaus. Rated M for sexytimes :D
1. something started crazy

**A/N: **If that Esther bitch offs my originals, there will be hell to pay. (Also, I own nothing. Except a fiery penchant for vengeance—YES WRITERS, I'm TALKING TO YOU.)

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

.:.

"_Something started crazy."_

.:.

The day she meets him, Caroline is coming off the end of one of the worst days on record. Her mother is having one of those days—the ones when she realises that Caroline is actually a vampire. She'd errantly mentioned something about grandchildren at breakfast, and then realised that Caroline could never give her that. Caroline was frozen, an animate form of a body that should have died, smothered in a hospital bed. Her realisation had been greeted by an awkward silence that Caroline hadn't known how to fill, before Liz had excused herself, using the office as a way to avoid her. On top of that, Caroline had seemingly offended Bonnie again, by finally telling her that she was sick of walking on thin ice just because of what she was. Caroline hadn't spoken to Elena about it, but there was no wat the Elena would see it from her side. Humans with humans, Caroline supposed. Even if one of them was a witch. At least Bonnie was _human. _

And then Tyler had called. They'd been having their problems, since that day that Tyler had been turned into a hybrid. Caroilne had managed to get herself locked out of the evening, and somehow avoided seeing her own boyfriend die at the hands of the Original vampire. By the time she'd finally gotten back inside, and managed to get through the doors again, Matt had been drenched in water, Bonnie had been freaking out, and Tyler was grinning happily at her as he bounced off the walls. Then he dropped the hybrid bomb and everything had changed between them.

She had yet to meet Klaus, but when she did, Caroline avowed to give him a piece of her fucking mind.

Anyway, Tyler had called. And they'd gone on to have that conversation that Caroline had been trying really, really hard to avoid. Everything came up. Her insecurities, the dangers of them being together, his devotion to Klaus. Even her freaking relationship with Matt came up, in one of Tyler's more personal digs. _"How am I supposed to feel when you're still making moon eyes at my best friend every second?" _Which she wasn't. Making mooneyes at Matt, that is. Matt was way over her and her supernatural gig, and Caroline was happier with Tyler.

Or, at least she had been. Until that asshole hybrid had dumped her. "_Maybe it's better we take a break, for a while." _He had said slowly. "_Just until we get our heads screwed on straight." _

Her head was screwed on straight, thank you very much. And what the fuck did 'a break' mean? They weren't freaking Ross and Rachel. If Caroline had to be anyone, it was someone who liked to know where she stood.

So it's with a furious huff that she drops herself into one of the plush leather seats. As soon as she sits though, she realises she is entirely alone, and probably even more pathetic than those people who sat at the bar and moped about their own lives. She is about to pick up her phone and get herself into more trouble by calling Matt, when he drops into the seat opposite her, and holds out a drink.

"Milkshake," he says with a coy smile. "You look like you need one."

And she _does. _Not even just the drink. She needs a good looking guy to sit down in the seat opposite her and just look like he was willing to help. If it had been any other day, at any other time, then Caroline would have smirked, assuming that her looks and confidence had brought him over. But not today. She's in a bad mood, and she's just so not interested.

Caroline narrows her eyes at him, but wearily reaches for the drink he's brought. Pulling it closer and peering into it, she notes that it's a strawberry milkshake. It's only then that she realises that the sweet drink is exactly what she needs on a day like this—especially if she can't get her hands on anything stronger (blood or alcohol—at this point, she wouldn't mind).

Still, she doesn't touch it. She knows enough about Mystic Falls to know that strangers rarely come baring odd drinks with only kindness in mind.

What follows is an odd mix of aggression and amusement as the two of them talk to each other. She demands that he tell her his name, but he's more interested in finding out why she's in such a bad mood. She wants to know why he's even talking to her. He wants to know who the guy is that she's moping over and how he can hurt him. She tells him that there is no guy, and even if there was, she _doesn't_ mope. Also, it's so not up to this guy to hurt Tyler.

Not that Tyler's the guy. Because there is no guy.

He pushes the milkshake at her again.

"Drink," he urges.

She rolls her eyes. "As if that's going to work. You're probably a rapist or something."

The man frowns. "It's four o'clock in the afternoon." He observes, frowning slightly.

Caroline shrugs. "That could be when you do your hunting." She says errantly. "There's no way I'm drinking that."

He watches her for a moment before a light smirk makes its way onto his face. He seems to know that his argument isn't be good enough for her so he leans forward again, pulling the drink away from her. He leans back into his seat, and gives her a good long look before pulling the straw from the drink and lifting the cup to his lips.

He takes a long draw from the cup, the straw dangling delicately from his long fingers, never once letting his gaze leave hers. Then he pulls back. Caroline expects there to be a pink milk line on his lips, but if there was, he'd licked it away before she can see it.

"See?" he says, with a bright lilt. "Not poison."

She scoffs audibly. "Oh please," she says with a quick eye-roll for added effect. "I've seen _The Princess Bride_. It's easy to build up a resistance to poison."

Probably not the most substantial of arguments, but she's still pissed and she's still tired and still so not in the mood to argue with this guy.

Whatever it is, her argument makes him smirk again. She can already tell from those few moments speaking to him that he's one of those guys who keeps the smirk on his face twenty four seven.

"Life isn't a fairytale, luv."

She notes at about that point that he's British.

He's also a dick.

She squares her shoulders. "Well obviously." She snaps. "If it were, I'd be sitting here talking to someone who I know and like, instead of you."

"_Touché, _luv." He says. His smirk (which she's decided is his trademark thing) widens into a grin and it makes Caroline feel smart for her comment. She isn't usually seen as the witty one in conversation. His grin relaxes back into a casual smile and his eyes seem to sparkle as he watches her. "You can call me Nick."

Caroline scoffs again and rolls her eyes. "How does that help?"

He grins again.

"Well, now you know me."

.:.

She's not sure how he did it, but she finds that his personality it almost intoxicating. He's confident—he'd have to be to just buy her a drink and let her judge him as readily as he did. But he's also refined and classy. He's not making lewd jokes, or innuendo (although, she has only known him for about an hour. He feels like the kind of guy quick enough to used innuendo almost casually. Maybe that will come further into their relationship). Instead, he's listening to her talk and giving her real, substantial responses about how she can deal with her friends. (She's left out the more unbelievable aspects of her life, and stuck to just talking about her petty personal dramas).

Maybe it's because of the accent, but she likes him. (Way too much for a girl who's been dumped only a couple of hours ago).

So she stays and speaks with Nick for at least an hour. By the time she's finished, she's almost entirely forgotten about Tyler. Of course, there's still a dull thrum ni the back of her mind reminding her that she's supposed to be miserable, but she can't bring herself to force that emotion out. It's nice talking to Nick. Pleasant even. He seems to know the exact right thing to say.

_Bonnie says that you guys had a fight? Sleepover at mine tonight, so we can sort everything out, k? She says she's really sorry. –E_

Caroline can't quite manage to keep her irritation inside as she scoffs at the message. Of course Bonnie has made it to Elena's. And like always, they've teamed up, so that she really has no choice but head over there and apologise to Bonnie. Elena will take it as both of them apologising—because obviously, Bonnie will have mentioned that she maybe regrets it a little to Elena. But Caroline will be the one who has to say 'I'm Sorry' out loud.

Nick, who'd been in the middle of telling her how to deal with her mid-terms, pauses. "Something wrong?"

For a moment, she debates between telling him or staying silent. But, to be honest, she's sick of really lying. It would be nice to have someone on her side this time—not Matt, who's always out to defend Elena, or Bonnie. So she sighs, and pushes her hair out of her face before beginning. "I kind of got into a fight with my friend, today." She explains quietly. "But she's gone to our other friend already, so I'll have to be the one who apologises." She rolls her eyes. "_Like always." _

The last bit, she mutters to herself more than to him, but he hears. Leaning forward, he folds his arms on the table and watches her closely for a moment.

"Do you have to apologise?" he asks curiously.

Caroline starts. "What? Well, yeah—no one else is going to—"

He waves a casual hand, brushing her words aside. "No," he interrupts her. "Do you have to apologise? Or are you just doing it so that they won't. Are you wrong?"

Caroline looks straight to her hands, folded in her lap. Swallowing, she thinks about it. It is one of those arguments where she knows she's right—but she also knows that Bonnie thinks exactly the same. It isn't fair that just because Katherine had killed her to get to Elena and the Salvatores, Caroline has to work hard every day to get Bonnie's respect. Caroline was used to having to work to prove she wasn't as shallow as everyone assumed, but for Bonnie to look at her as though she was an abomination hurt.

Caroline shakes her head, and says with a small voice, "No."

Nick leans forward in his chair further even, his head low. He watches her with his piercing eyes. "Then don't apologise. Change up a little. If you didn't do anything wrong, then you shouldn't be the one who has to play the bad guy. You're better than that."

The words have a profound impact on her. Caroline can't remember the last time she's been told to do something for herself. If it wasn't Tyler, pleading with her to ignore the sire bond for Klaus, then it was Damon, ordering her to not do something because he thought it was stupid. If it wasn't Elena gently telling her that she was being silly, then it was Bonnie who was still disappointed with her, even though she was doing everything she could to deny her nature. If it wasn't her mother, hoping that she'd move so that Liz wouldn't be reminded what her daughter was, it was Rick, who was always sharing a look with Damon behind her back, because she was still the only one of them who acted like they were still at _high school. _

Maybe it's because she just isn't prepared to hear that from anyone, that Caroline's eyes immediately flick to her phone screen. Gesturing the machine in the air with a helpless little wave, she pouts.

"But they've invited me over now. If I don't go, I'm the one in the wrong."

"A strong person would stick to their convictions. A weak person would demand forgiveness or apology." Nick's voice falls smooth and sharp—again with that accent—so much so that Caroline's gaze darts up to meet his. There's something about him, a sheer confidence that confuses her. How could someone be so assured of their own convictions?

Seeing that his convictions didn't done the trick this time, Nick goes on to shrug. "Tell them your phone was off. You didn't get the message until tomorrow."

Again, it's a suggestion, but the way he says it—so slick—makes Caroline wonder why she'd ever wanted to go in the first place.

"That does mean that I'll be turning down my friends for an evening of moping at home, by myself." Caroline points out with a sigh. "And I'd like to say I'm not that pathetic."

"Then don't do either," he declares instantly in response.

Caroline frowns. "What?"

His grin widens. There's something about the smile that makes Caroline excited, now. But it also sends a thrill of fear and anticipation down her spine.

"Come out with me."

.:.

**A/N: **The chapters are all going to be short. This is a short, concise story, if I can help it. Maybe about six or seven chapter. Absolutely no more than ten... (we'll see. I tend to go off on tangents, occasionally).

**Also, **I am aware of the correct spelling of 'Niklaus'. Correctly, I assume that 'Nik' is the way that it's spelt when it's just the first syllable, and 'Klaus' is obviously the second half. But I reckon that if Caroline met a bloke calling himself 'Nik' she'd just assume it was spelt the modern way, oui? ;)

**PS.** I figured if Klaus can't tell the difference between Elena and Katherine, then Caroline wouldn't be able to automatically tell that Klaus is a vampire.

ten reviews for an update ;)


	2. sweet and unknown

**A/N: **I don't own anything you recognise. Unless it's the huge knowing desire to write something amazing that everyone loves. I do have that... but I'd be glad to be rid of it. Any takers?

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

.:.

"_Sweet and unknown.."_

.:.

She almost sends a message to Elena to let her know that she won't make it, before she realises that the plan was to pretend that she didn't get the message. So she stows her phone in her back pocket, and looks back into the mirror.

Nick and Caroline had agreed that he would pick her up from her place (she's not sure how she feels about giving him her address, but she's a vampire. She'll be fine) at about six thirty that night, giving Caroline time to go home and really freshen up. Which was good, because for this guy, Caroline's keen to make an impression.

She puts on a pair of designer jeans. With Matt or Tyler, she would have left the jeans at home—knowing that they'd probably end up ruined. Not by entirely their doing, but it was a chance she didn't like to take. Also, they thought it was stupid that she spends so much on the jeans themselves. (Which is probably realistic. These jeans are faded blue, and skinny, and if she'd been a budget shopper could have probably cost her twenty bucks. But that wasn't the point).

If what she could tell about Nick's pants (come on, of course she'd been looking), he was a fan of designer clothing himself, and the idea of him spilling something on her seemed astronomically unlikely.

A low cut top is her shirt of choice, grey with black and white marks splashed across it strategically. A black cropped blazer completes the look, as well as a pair of black heels wedge boots that she loves to wear out because they're deceptively comfortable.

She does her hair flawlessly, and decides to go with a dark look make up wise. Black eye shadow with silver highlights, as well as a couple of extra fake lashes. Pale pink lip gloss and slight blush on her cheeks is all she needs now.

She can hear her mother bustling around in the house, behind her closed door. She's still firmly in her rut, refusing to look at Caroline unless she absolutely has to. It hasn't been long—she's lasted longer than a couple of days some times, but this time, Caroline hopes that maybe she'll wake up tomorrow to see her mum acting normally again.

Still, it doesn't look like it's going to happen tonight.

The sound of a car horn jolts her from where she is reapplying her lip gloss. That'll be him. She reaches down and grabs the large black leather bag with everything she needs inside (money, ID, water bottle etc.). She doesn't know where he's taking her, so she's preparing herself from every occasion. When she was human, she would have been wary about going out with him but now? Come on. She's a vampire.

If he is a rapist, he really should be choosing his targets better.

"That's for me," she shouts out into the house, as she leaves her bedroom. She catches her mother's eye for a second before Liz has looked away.

There is another of their trademark 'Forbes' awkward silences.

"Is it cool if I go out tonight?" Caroline asks hesitantly, trying not to feel too bothered by the way her mother is studying the floor at their feet.

Liz agrees too quickly, and Caroline feels tears pool in her eyes. Surely, vampires were supposed to be more hardcore than this. If only she could find that damn switch that Damon always used to talk about. If Stefan can switch it off, then why can't she?

"Kay," Caroline says awkwardly, rocking on her high heels. "See you tomorrow. I won't wake you up. Back before one—it's a school night, right?"

Not even a smile. Liz just nods and then moves quickly into the kitchen.

Caroline would have been climbing into the car with Nick in tears if she hadn't heard Liz's quick 'be careful' from the kitchen just as Caroline is about to close the door. Okay, so her mother still cares.

How can Caroline be so obvious with her emotions when her mother can barely get a word out when it comes to love?

God her family is messed up.

So, instead of crying, she greets Nick cheerfully. He's out of his car, leaning on the side of the red car with his arms folded across his chest and his smirk set steadily on his features. She's never been particularly adept at cars. She'd tried to get into knowing the make and model when she was about fifteen, in a bid to get in with the guys, but that had failed miserably. Besides, Caroline had later found out, that guys loved talking about their cars to girls.

As she approaches, however, he pushes himself out of his leaning position and stands straight. He's taller than her—but only just barely in her heels. Caroline always used to want to be taller, until she realised that tall girls couldn't wear heels with as much freedom.

"You look ravishing, luv." He tells her.

Shivers run down her spine and she smiles at him. He hasn't changed his jeans—yup, they're dark blue and designer alright—but his shirt is different. He is wearing a white t-shirt, with the same V neck collar, but over it, he is wearing a dark black coat that reminds Caroline of something from dress defence force wear. It suits him though.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she says appraising him. His smirk widens. "Now," she said, feeling suddenly breathless under his gaze. "Where are we headed?"

His gaze lingers on her for another moment before he turns and herds her towards the car. Opening the passenger seat door for her, he steps back to give her room to slip inside. "Nowhere too exciting, I'm afraid."

Caroline doesn't let this get her down, and smile simply as she seats herself. "Not a problem." She smiles.

He smiles—a little at her, a little to himself—and closes the door behind her. He's around the other side of the car quickly, and seated beside her. "There's just not much to do in this town," he says. "I haven't been here in a long time, but it doesn't look like the festivities have really livened up."

Caroline chuckles. In her mind, she's searching her memories, trying to recall seeing him before. But then, she tells herself, if he'd been here before and she'd seen him, she'd definitely remember those eyes. So she disregards it.

"It is a small town," she concedes.

Nick shrugs. "So I thought I could either go with extravagant, or simple."

Caroline quirks an eyebrow—the same way he had done to her earlier. "So you chose simple?" What does that choice say about him? She thinks. That he's not willing to make an effort?

He seems to guess that this is what she's thinking, just from the inflection in her voice. He chuckles, the sound rolling around the car cabin and again, setting alight excitement in her belly. "I thought I wouldn't over do it, the first night. Save the extravagance for next time, shall we?"

This sentence makes Caroline smile brightly before she can even help it. She considers him. "There's going to be a next time?"

He grins that she's noticed this, and as his hand falls on the gear stick and the car turns on, he glances at her, a mischievous grin replacing his smirk. "Oh, I hope so. Don't you, luv?"

Well, she doesn't really know how she can reply to that without coming across as obvious, but for the moment she doesn't mind. Still, this is definitely one of those moments where she doesn't want to scare him off. He seems far too interested—and too good to be true—to let that happen.

"We'll see." She says simply. She's quickly glad that she chose those words because his smile only broadens.

.:.

They end up going to a club on the main street. _Verve. _It's the only one that she's ever seen around town, and while it's probably not as lively as ones in big cities, it's certainly the most excitement they're going to get in this town. He lets her make the decision though, offering to go to The Grill if that's where she'd rather be. She decides against it though. The Grill is fun, sure enough, but on a Sunday night it would be packed with all her friends. And while she doesn't want to run into Bonnie and Elena if they decide to come out, she also doesn't want to be seen with Nick for the moment.

Right now, he's her secret. He's been perfect thus far, and she's a little worried that that might prove to be wrong tonight. She doesn't want her friends to see that, if it does happen. She doesn't want to be judged for going out with another girl the night that her boyfriend dumped her.

But it's also more than that.

If he is perfect, which she's really beginning to think that he is, then she doesn't want to share him. She doesn't want to have him meet Elena and Bonnie and be scared off by them. She wants him to stay hers, for the moment at least. If everything goes well, of course she'll tell her friends about him.

But for the moment, he's her secret and she wants to keep it that way.

She only realises when they pull into the parking lot, the fatal flaw in this plan. Before she can really stop herself, she lets out a little 'Oh' of disappointment. It makes Nick pause in undoing his seatbelt, and he twists in his seat to look at her.

It's a club. Of course, it's a club. ID was required—and she wasn't yet eighteen. She'd never be eighteen. Not really. Her birthday is only a couple of weeks away, but that isn't good enough for an establishment. Especially not a small town one, at that.

Nick is still watching her, confused. "Something wrong?"

Ah. Good. Now she had to have the awkward 'real age' talk that she didn't want to have. He was obviously older than her, but would it be too much for him to want to go out with a seventeen year old. What a great way to start their evening.

"I'm, uh. Well, I'm not allowed in there." She points towards the club, where she can see the flashing lights on the small windows and hear the pounding of the music. "I'm only seventeen—just for another couple of weeks, though."

She waits nervously for his response.

Nick shrugs and continues to remove his belt. "Oh don't worry about that." He says nonchalantly. "I know the owner, and the bouncers—they'll let you in."

How is it, that this man is local enough to know the owner of the club, and yet not local enough for her to have seen him before? It doesn't make any sense.

Still, she doesn't question it. She's a bit caught up in the excitement, knowing that her age really hasn't changed anything for him. She bites back a smile as she undoes her seatbelt, but before she can open the door, he's done it for her, and is holding out a hand to help her out.

Oh this is just _way _too good to be true.

"Shall we?" he says with a charming smile, looping her hand through the crook of his elbow, and closing the door behind her. He locks the car before stowing the keys in his pocket, and then they make their way towards the club.

Despite his assurance, Caroline is still nervous as they approach the door. The bouncer is large and burly—but surprisingly good looking. Still, compared to the man she's accompanying, he's nothing, so she's more worried about not being let in.

"Calm down, sweetheart," he whispers in her ear.

Oh. Wow.

That really does nothing to calm her down.

She's a bit preoccupied by the feeling of his breath on her ear, so she only really notices that they've made it to the door when Nick smiles and holds out his card. "Hi," he greets the bouncer smoothly. "Having a good night?"

The bouncer checks his ID, and hands it back to him, looking glad that Nick has asked about him. "Yeah, actually." He says enthusiastically. "You two have a good night."

And then that's that.

Caroline is frowning as they make their way through the doors, and when Nick sees this, he chuckles. "Did you really doubt me?" he asked with a playful lilt.

She gives him a coy smile in response before turning her attention to the club itself. _Verve _is a small three story club. Not really three story though. That's just how they advertise it. Instead, it's two stories, with a basement downstairs that's been converted. Seeing as it's still the only place where young adults can really hang these days, it's packed. Nick takes the lead though, and seems to know where he's headed. As they move through the crowd, her hand slips from the crook of his elbow down to meet his hand as he tugs her deeper into the throng.

She loves the feeling of his hand around hers, and wonders if it's unhealthy that she likes him this much after knowing him for so little time.

He pulls her upstairs, where it's less crowded, and the dance floor is actually playing good music (well, you know, good music, club wise. It's Kanye West or something—not exactly Mozart but still great to dance to).

It's almost too smooth the way he pulls her onto the dance floor. She barely even sees it coming until he spins around in the middle and faces her, already moving his hips slightly. He's one of those guys—the ones who don't really do the crazy dancing—but that's okay, because sometimes those guys are a little weird. She's happy to do the real dancing, and he seems happy to let her. He's watching her with a bright grin as she dances to the song ("that's what makes you beautiful" because she _loves _this song).

"Having fun?" he drawls (in her ear, because the music is too loud for just normal conversation. He's leant forward and his hands are on her waist as he grins into her ear and wow, oh wow, she just wants to die).

She grins at him and nods her head way too enthusiastically for a first date.

He doesn't seem to mind.

She can feel the jealous stares. Not from the guys—despite being kind of obvious in a lot that they do, Caroline always finds it harder to tell whether guys are jealous or not. It's all lost in translation for her, she supposes. But girls? Girls are easy to read, and she can see their snide, upturned faces watching as she dances with Nick.

In a bold move, Caroline moves forward slightly, and reaches her hands up, wrapping them around Nick's neck—making sure that he doesn't back away. That doesn't seem to be his intention though, as he instantly moves forward into her as well. They keep up their modern dancing, but it suddenly feels more intimate.

It sounds stupid, but suddenly all she can focus on is his face. It's not like the music has suddenly faded from her consciousness, or she feels as though they're alone on the dance floor. Sweaty bodies bump against hers every couple of seconds, either a result of bad coordination or the alcohol, and the steady thrum of the music is loud in her ears. In fact, if anything, it's distracting.

There's the beat. Then his eyes. His deep, deep blue eyes that are the colour of shallow water. That doesn't make any sense. Someone bumps into her. His eyes. His hair. The soft curls at the nape of his neck are brushing the tops of her hands, and leave goose bumps. His eyes. The music beat again.

She makes the decision too quickly to think about it.

She brings her hands forward, to the front of his neck and she fists her fingers in the fabric of his shirt. It's quick and abrupt—the movement—and she pulls him suddenly to her, smashing her lips against his.

Something inside her implodes. Caroline doesn't like to overdo first kisses. She used to over analyse them—in the time of Matt, the first time around. As her relationships progressed she got over it.

But even Caroline has to admit this is something new. There aren't fireworks, there aren't songbirds in the background. No hallelujah chorus egg her on. But there is something. She can smell him better now—the aftershave that he hadn't had on when she met him in the Grill. He tastes of something sweet that she just wants to drink in. She likes this. She likes kissing him and she doesn't mind that she only met him that afternoon because, well, she's been dumped and Nick's a brilliant guy.

Hell, Nick's a perfect guy. Her perfect guy, even, and soon he's going to screw that up. So why not have a kiss with her perfect guy before it was spoiled?

His hands are on her waist, holding her tightly now. He seemed to be actually surprised by her sudden movement (which makes Caroline smile slightly as she kisses him because maybe this is the first time she's put him on the back foot), but not displeased, by any means. He's pulling her closer now, kissing her softly.

When they finally break apart (Caroline faking the need for air, since, hello, he didn't know she was dead), there is a moment of silence. But this time, Caroline won't endure the awkwardness that she is forced to share with her mother. Nick isn't the person for that. So she smiles, rocks back on her feet and basks in the glow of jealous glares from the single girls in the club.

A little breathlessly, she giggles. "There should definitely be a next time."

.:.

**A/N: **Whoo. I'm so stoked for this story that I started typing chapter three in the Authors Note and had to stop and backspace it. (That's a good sign, yes?)

K, so I know I said that the chapters would be short, but it seems I just wanted to pack in some stuff this chapter, and I realised that if I want this to be the short story I'd planned, I'm going to have to do long chapters (which, you know, doesn't _really _work, but it's nice to keep up the charade).

Found myself watching a Forwood video today and realised that I like them together as well. I definitely like Klaroline more, but I feel that if she ends up with either of them I'll be happy. (Fate now dictates that she'll die alone and unloved, just so that the writers can torture me. Sigh).

Anyway, thanks for the reviews guys! I didn't expect this much of a response. I thought I would be extracting reviews like pulling teeth. But guys, **12 **out of **580 **people reviewed the first chapter. I don't want to do the math, but I'm still excited. Keep it up guys. (Although, if some of those **568 **other readers want to review, even anonymously, I'd be cool with it. :S)

So please review.

xx.


	3. something you keep

**A/N: **Nothing that you recognise belong to me. Instead, it belongs to a brilliant author (L. J. Smith) and a bunch of TV writers whose goal seems to be to string me out with stress about a bunch of vampires, werewolves, hybrids and humans. Oh. And Bonnie.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: People have been pointing out some 'tense' issues with the past two chapters, so I've spent some time going back over it and trying to sort that out. If you see any more problems that I've left out, don't hesitate to lemme know :) **Also**, Klaus DOES know who Caroline is, but as to his motives, I'm going to keep you all guessing ;)

:

"_Something you keep,"_

:

When she wakes up the next morning, it seems that fate has decided to give Caroline a break. Her mother is in the kitchen, smiling widely, with bacon and eggs ready for breakfast—and a blood bag pulled out of the fridge. It seems that Liz has once again come to terms with her daughter's reality, and has pulled herself out of her rut.

Now, if only Caroline could do the same.

Because did she _really_ go out to a club with a complete stranger last night and then practically mouth rape him?

Caroline groans and presses her head to her hands. What was she thinking? She hadn't even been drinking last night. By all rights, she was completely within all her competencies. And yet, she'd still managed to go out and humiliate herself. Classy Forbes, a voice rings in her head. Although, what did she really expect? Of course she was going to go out and do something stupid the night that Tyler dumped her.

A buzzing from the table distracts her. She's brought her phone out from her room with her, more out of habit than anything. It's sitting ahead of her now, on the other side of her plate. Even though the fates obviously hate her, she prays that they have pity, just this once, and that it isn't Nick calling.

It's not.

It's Elena. Texting to ask about why she bailed last night. _Bonnie was trying to apologise, you know. _Elena has scolded. Oh, yeah right. Caroline's having a morning bad enough that she doesn't want to humour Elena in this regard. If Bonnie wanted to apologise, she could have done it herself. Why is Elena the one texting anyway?

"Everything alright?" her mother asks. She's watching her daughter with a look of concern that says that she more wary of something bad happening to her daughter than anything else.

Caroline puts her phone down with a sigh, before pulling her gaze up to meet her mothers. She shrugs her shoulder a little helplessly, before offering a simple smile. "Yeah," she says meekly. "Just the usual drama."

Obviously, Liz doesn't really know what to do whenever Caroline brings up 'the usual drama' so she just decently nods her head, and looks to her feet. She shuffles slightly from her left foot to her right before she makes another move. She lifts her hands into the air and awkwardly gestures at nothing for a couple of seconds before she clears her throat.

"I have to get to work." She says abruptly. "Are you good to get to school?"

It's about then that Caroline remembers its Monday. Still, she holds her composure and smiles brightly at her mum, hopefully giving off the appearance of a young girl who's on top of her worries.

It's only once the door has closed behind Liz, and Caroline can hear the thrum of her engine that she lets out the exasperated groan she's been holding in (one that she'd never let out if she had any company) and drops her head into her hands.

/

"So you didn't get the text until this morning?" Elena sounds suspicious, but for the moment, Caroline doesn't really mind. Elena has every right to be suspicious of a lot of people in her life. Stefan, to make sure he won't do anything crazy, Damon to just question his motives. And any new person in her life could be compelled by Klaus. Sure, it's annoying that Elena still doesn't trust her after all these years of friendship, but Caroline knows that right now, she's just on edge, and she won't push it.

Still, she's already got Bonnie on her list of problems. Why add Elena to that (especially when the problem list is suddenly full of good looking mysterious guys named Nick who she's already messed things up with)?

So instead of getting angry, Caroline just shrugs and looks at Elena with an apologetic look on her face (hey, as long as she's not apologising to Bonnie, she's still got her dignity). "I don't know what to say, Elena. My phone died."

Elena still looks suspicious.

Still, that's pretty fair, since Caroline's, you know, lying.

But Elena seems to have noticed that Caroline's really not having a great time these days and lets it drop. Instead, since Elena's always had a sort of third eye thing when it comes to other people being in trouble, she frowns and leans forward.

"Care, are you alright?"

Caroline nods her head too quickly. She still doesn't want to tell anyone about Nick. It's silly, obviously, but it's not about him being perfect any more. Well, he's still perfect, but no, that's not the point. Now it's more of a sort of 'saving face' lie. She's humiliated herself _again, _but maybe (_just maybe_) this time it won't get back to her friends.

"Just some family problems," she shrugs.

Is it ironic that her excuses for her bad mood somehow seem to match up? When her mother asks, it's her friends. When her friends ask, it's her mother.

Hopefully no one will notice.

/

She's sitting in the middle of history class, studiously ignoring Bonnie and feeling bad for putting Elena in the middle of it, when her phone vibrates. It's not on silent, so with the vibration comes a soft, upbeat tune, but its Rick teaching so he lets her off with a meaningful look.

It isn't Elena or Bonnie who's texted her. They're sitting right next to her and their phones are nowhere to be seen.

Oh god.

Caroline finds herself hoping that maybe Damon is texting her. Or, Stefan. I mean, he may be a little crazy but anything was better than talking to—

_Yup. _It's Nick.

They'd exchanged numbers at the end of their date, when Caroline had still been reeling from the excitement of her impulsiveness and the bliss of their kiss. Now, the next day, when reality is pressing in on her from all four corners, she finds herself regretting the swap.

(Only partly. A huge part of her jumps with excitement as she reads his name)

_You wanna hang out again soon? _He's asked her. _I had fun last night. _

"Yeah, I bet you did." She mumbles to herself. She says it a bit loud, so people know she spoke—but not loud enough for anyone other than Elena to hear the words. At her curious frown, Caroline mouths the word "_Mum" _and leaves it at that.

Maybe this text is a good thing, Caroline decides after a second. Maybe he is giving her an opening to explain to him that she'd been having a bad day yesterday and that she's really not a crazy person, or you know, a _whore. _

She texts back.

_Look, we should probably talk about last night. I feel like we got our wires crossed. _

Hopefully that'll be the end of it.

It isn't.

Her phone vibrates and sings again. Frantically, she silences it quickly—but not before she gets another nasty look from Rick.

_I'll pick you up after school. _

Oh.

Well, he clearly doesn't get it. She's telling him to back off. She literally said 'we need to talk'. Wasn't that the magic phrase?

Apparently not.

_No. _She texts back quickly. _I think that you saw a side of me last night that I'm not particularly proud of, and I think it's best if we just go our separate ways. _

There.

That should do it.

It rings again, and this time, Rick stops in the middle of his talk. Caroline knows what's coming, so she quickly reads the text. She's turned pale by the time that Rick is at her desk, holding out his hand with a disapproving look.

_If you're going to make me have this conversation, we'll be having it in person. I'll meet you after school. Don't be late. _

She wishes that her phone really had died.

/

Sure enough, he's waiting for her in the school car park (the one just beyond the oval) when school is let out. She's walking with Elena—Bonnie had a different final period to the two of them, thank god. She notes now that in the light of the day, Nick's car window is really tinted—and she wouldn't have been able to recognise him if she hadn't seen the car before. He isn't waiting outside this time, either. Her eyes can see his outline in the driver's seat. He's watching her as intently as he ever had. (Still, she can only tell because she's a vampire and that's how it works).

She quickly dismisses Elena. (Well, dismiss is a bad word. Abandon could work, but she still doesn't like it.)_ She says goodbye to Elena_ and quickly moves across the oval.

She's frowning when she gets in the car.

"Look," she's already begun to say. "I don't know who you think you are just showing up here and—"

"Do you not like me?"

The question puts her on the back foot (maybe she should just stand on it. It seems to be her constant position when he's in the picture), and she frowns. "What?"

He shrugs his shoulders simply, and raises his eyebrows at her. "It's a simple question, Caroline. Do you like me or not?"

She likes that way that her name rolls off his lips. But she can't tell him that. What can she tell him? Of course she likes him. He's her perfect man. But he must think she's desperate and she's not the type of girl to let a guy assume she's willing just because he caught her in a moment of weakness.

She tells him this. (Not the perfect guy bit, or the bit where she says she likes him—but the weakness bit).

He looks genuinely surprised with her declaration, and his eyebrows come together after a second. "You think that I'm manipulating you?" As can be expected, there's hurt in his voice and Caroline instantly feels guilty for saying what she has.

"No," she hastens to explain to him. "No, I just mean." She falters.

There is a moment of silence during which he just watches her and she watches him. In that moment, all kinds of thoughts whiz through her head. She likes him—that one she's sure of. She doesn't really mind that she only met him yesterday and that he had started out as a Tyler rebound.

She takes a deep breath.

"I'm worried that you met the wrong Caroline." She says quickly. If she's going to say something as personal as this to a guy she doesn't know, then she better do it all at once. "And I don't want to have her mess things up with you."

Wow. That's way too personal for a person she barely knows. She doesn't even know his last name, and now she's talking about the long term? Oh god, what if he's not interested? What if he likes the slutty, rebound bent Caroline?

Well, it was about time for neurotic Caroline to make an appearance, wasn't it?

Now, it's Nick who takes the deep breath. He twists uncomfortably in the seat (reminding her that they're still parked in the school car park, and also of his unnatural grace, even when he's struggling) so that he can face her.

He doesn't lean forward or touch her. He seems to have gotten that she's in a nervous place at this point and that's not what she needs. So instead, he leans back a little, resting his back on the car door and watches her for another second.

Then he speaks.

"I liked Caroline from last night." He says suddenly. (Caroline feels her heart drop through her ass and is about to bite his head off before he continues). "But I'm pretty sure I'll like any version of you." (Okay, wow). "And I'd love to meet the real Caroline, if you're willing to show her to me."

She wonders if this is what it feels like to be swept off her feet.

/

He helps her out of the car again when they head to the small cafe. It's not the Grill this time, because again, she doesn't want to run into her friends. Her finger brushes the cold ring on his finger and it strikes her as odd that he's wearing it.

"Family heirloom?" she jokes (even though it's not a joke he's going to understand. That's the problem with in-jokes).

Nick considers the rings for a moment and smirks. "Good guess." He says slyly. "This has been in my family for generations."

This sparks a moment of worry in her. A family heirloom? A ring? Will he take it off?

She instantly decides to get these answers. "Can I see it?" she demands quickly. This is one coincidence she won't let go and if's he's been playing her like this, it's not going to go on for long. She's smarter than that, no matter the nicknames that Damon fucking Salvatore has for her—

"Here you go." He twists the ring off his finger and pushes it into her grasp.

Oh. No problem, then.

:

**A/N**: As far as I can tell, originals don't need daylight rings? That's right, right? If not, let me know as soon as you read this so I can go and fix it before to many people see it. (I'm as insecure as Caroline about some things, and mistakes are one of them :S)

Thanks for the absolutely overwhelming response to the first two chapters. I don't think anything I've ever written has been this popular. PLEASE keep it up. I know it gets tedious to review each chapter, but tell me about a bit you liked or where you'd like to see this story go. The reviews are the reason I'm writing so much, even if I'm supposed to be at this place called 'University' and doing something strange called 'learning'.

Whatever. I'm sure they have a movie where I can catch up. (wink).

So yeah. Please review.

Also, Happy Valentines Day (in Australia anyway. Not sure how far ahead Australia is of the rest of the world). Here's a heart for everyone who needs a valentine—or even those who want more than one. 3.

(I myself spent Valentine's day single, as I have every single year of my life. I think my relationships know that consumerism will one day kill me and like to make sure I won't waste my money on the day. WELL THAT DIDN'T WORK, BECAUSE I BOUGHT A PRESENT FOR MY BEST FRIEND. HAH, PSYCHE!)

Lol. Long authors note. Feel free to ignore me.

Except when it comes to reviews.

Review.

Kthanksbye :P

xx

_**A/N: (updated 14/03/2012)**__ Alrighty roo. Done this one too. Wow, just reread that author's note. I'm definitely a rambler, aren't I? So I've edited as best I can at this point. See anything else, let me know. _


	4. in a box on the street

**A/N: **Nothing that you recognise belong to me. Instead, it belongs to a brilliant author (L. J. Smith) and a bunch of TV writers whose goal seems to be to string me out with stress about a bunch of vampires, werewolves, hybrids and humans. Oh. And Bonnie.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: What I'm getting from the general response to last chapter is that Klaus is a hybrid, and therefore able to stroll around in the sun unhindered (un_ring_dered, lol). Phew. Also, I went back and changed the mistakes from last chapter. (I'm so sorry about the mistakes, by the way buys, but I don't have a beta and I find it really difficult to edit my own work).

**Also, **a reviewer pointed out to me that this story is very much focused on Caroline internally, and that they'd like to see more external description. I wanted to just say that first and foremost, I'm writing this story because of the complex thought processes that the writers have given Caroline, and as a way to explore them. So it's always been and probably will remain a very internalised piece. But, I understand that some of you might like more details, and I'm happy to supply those. I'll try this chapter. Let me know.

:

"_In a box on the street,"  
><em>

:

"I met a guy a couple of weeks ago," Caroline says nervously. She's staring at her nails, picking at the tips before she realises that she really can't be doing that because she's just painted them and nervousness is not an excuse to have shabby fingernails.

But it isn't as though she has to really try hard to get Elena's attention. Her eyebrows shoot up and she stops working on the homework that they're supposed to be working on at Caroline's house.

"What?"

She sounds shocked, which is understandable enough. She's only just broken up with Tyler and she's been venting about it with Elena whenever she can. She and Bonnie have done the formal apology thing, but neither of them are particularly comfortable chatting to each other just yet. Still, Tyler's been walking around the halls like he's freaking untouchable and it's enough to make Caroline fume.

She clears her throat slightly awkwardly. "Uhm, yeah. I met him the day that Tyler broke up with me."

Probably not the best way to tell Elena about Nick. Elena's brows come together and she makes that face that tells Caroline that she's feeling pity. "Oh, Caroline, you don't need a rebo—"

Before Elena can even finish, Caroline is furiously shaking her head. "No. He's not a rebound. He's more than that."

This makes Elena falter, and a slight blush swells on Caroline's cheeks.

She hastens to sound less like a pathetic little girl. She's really got to grow past that phase, doesn't she?

"I mean. I thought he was. A rebound, I mean. But then I got to know him. And he's great and he doesn't mind the neurotic me." She shrugs slightly, leaning her back against the foot of the couch. (She's sitting on the floor, so that they can leave all their stuff on the sofa). She pauses. "I really like him."

Like with everything in her life, Elena thinks it through before she responds. But it's only for a second, and then she's smiling sincerely and nodding her head slightly. "Wow, Caroline. That's great."

Caroline smiles and ducks her head, happy for that to be the moment when the conversation changes. But Elena seems happy to be talking about someone else's love life for a change. She seems excited that Caroline has found someone who's normal, and Caroline feels proud for putting a legitimate smile on her friend's face.

"His name is Nick," she's happy to gush at her friend's request. She's able to keep the deep details—the ones that she wants to keep between her and Nick—out, as long as she dishes on the more superficial ones. She tells Elena how many times they've kissed, and the cute things he's said, and the way he sits whenever she's around (which, if the magazines are to be understood when they write articles about Body Language, tell her he's way into her).

Eventually, the conversation segues into Elena's love life, and for the moment, Caroline doesn't mind hearing about the Damon and Stefan drama. Stefan's still all kinds of off the reservation, and Damon's personality swap is confusing to say the least. It's obvious that Elena's feeling _something _for the eldest Salvatore brother, and Caroline is always happy to be a buffer when Elena needs to vocalise how she feels about it.

But Caroline sure is glad that being with Nick isn't that complicated.

/

The next three weeks go smoothly. Klaus has supposedly gone underground for the moment (apparently Damon's threat of another vampire named Mikeal is enough to scare him into hiding, but everyone's convinced it's only temporary and he's going to return angry and kicking). Caroline doesn't really care why he's gone underground—just the result. She's suddenly allowed to spend a lot more time away from their little supernatural gang. Instead, she's been spending the time with Nick, and she's loving learning who he is.

He's an artist, for instance. Not something you'd assume just seeing him, but his work is breathtaking. He draws her face after two weeks, and the thick paper is now wedged at the edge of her mirror, between the photos of her and Elena and Bonnie. She looks at it every morning, comparing her own reflection with the charcoal lines.

It's uncannily accurate.

She's learnt other things as well. He doesn't like to think about his own birthday (because it makes him feel old), but he loves everyone else's birthdays. He tells her that he feels lonely a lot of the time and he likes being able to talk to her. His relationship with his father is rocky, at best, and his mother died a long time ago.

She tells him that her dad left her mum and her for another guy, and now her mother's basically incapable of expressing emotion. She tells him that she thinks her friends don't need her as much as she needs them, and that Bonnie thinks she's a horrible person even if they've pretended to make up for the moment. Caroline can't do anything to change that.

He looks as though he doesn't really know what to say for a moment, and she understands. It's complicated, and sometimes there isn't really a right thing to say.

When he decides on the right words, though, he comes pretty damn close.

"Sounds to me like you're too good for them, sweetheart," he says with a simple shrug.

There is no way it's that easy.

Right?

Still the first three weeks go well. It's new and it's brilliant and it's nice to have someone around who really likes her. He helps her with the homework that she doesn't understand (he has a particular strength in history, but he's also surprisingly adept at English, and helps her write the creative piece she's been having problems with).

Regarding the kiss, their main tactic had initially been to ignore it. It had been an awkward point of conversation, but Nick had been happy to deflect that awkwardness into jokes. They make Caroline smile, but it's still odd, and he notes that they make her uncomfortable. So his witticisms have since dropped away, leaving only deep silences when it's brought up. She doesn't really know how to approach it.

Every time he talks, opens his mouth and says something in that delectable accent, she wants to jump him all over again.

It can't be healthy to like him this much.

Frankly, it should be illegal that he look the way he does and act like a gentlemen. Hot guys are never good people. Every girl knows _that. _

And she's still struggling with this whole dilemma when he decides to go and change the whole ball game again (she doesn't really understand the ballgame metaphors, but she makes a point to learn. They are rather substantial).

It's one of those rare times that she's happy to go to the Grill with him, because she has a free period that she doesn't share with Elena and Bonnie (hey, she may have told them about him but she's by no means ready to share further than that. He's _hers._ Also, there's a part of her that's worried that this will be just another one of those guys who meets Elena and drops her like a hot potato).

She's standing to leave (she's got about five minutes left to get back on campus), and he's standing as well (he's got an interesting relationship with old time chivalry that makes her smile every time he acts like a gentleman). The atmosphere is buzzing and busy, like it always is at the lunch time rush, and as soon as they're out of their booth there are like four couples eyeing it up, and judging the distance they'll have to bound to get it first.

Before she can take a step though, he steps forward, ducks his head and kisses her, quickly, barely. She has only just registered what's going on when he pulls away and smiles at her.

"Sorry," he apologises, not sounding at all as though he means it.

She doesn't want his apology anyway. She smiles at him, a little nervously, and licks her lips. Her mouth is tingling from where his presence has been and it's a nice feeling.

He's not just some rebound from Tyler, she decides. He's so much more than that. He may well be her soul mate, she notes. That's how happy she feels whenever he's around.

/

But this sort of tranquil confusion can only last so long, especially where she's concerned, and it isn't long after the fourth week is finished that they have their first fight.

And it's not really a surprise that they're fighting about her.

It starts off subtle. They're both sitting in her living room, working on her math homework when he gets distracted by some of the photo's she's got framed on the mantle. He stands, and moves from the couch to the block about the fireplace, getting a better look. It's a photo from some date with Matt—they're standing side by side, smiling brightly at whoever is taking the photo (Caroline recalls that it could have been Elena, at that point). She's smiling brightly, but it's a smile that doesn't make it to her eyes. It had been an evening that probably followed a fight with her mother, or something.

But Nick notices. He can already tell those sorts of things about her mannerisms. She's amazed that he isn't a psych major, the way he can always manage to peer right into her soul.

So, completely casually, he frowns at the picture.

"Do you do that with me?" he asks suddenly.

Caroline, who had, until that point, been busily trying to sort out the Pythagorean Theorem in combination with the rules of Trigonometry, frowns. "What?"

Nick points at the frozen Caroline in the picture. "Fake being happy." He points out. He even lifts a finger to point at the false smile on her miniature features.

Caroline swallows and suddenly feels uncomfortable. She doesn't—really, not with him. He's probably the only person in her life that she hasn't felt the need to pretend around—but she doesn't really know how to respond. This is heading into territory that usually leads to her opening up about herself, and in her entire past, she's never been able to do that gracefully. She's always just stumbled through it, and endured the results.

So her response is a feeble, "no," that doesn't quite satisfy the curiosity within him.

"Are you lying?"

And, well, that just makes her mad. She's already on the defensive, and now he's calling her a liar. And she's never been a liar—maybe when necessity dictates it, but never voluntarily. She _hates _lying, and she doesn't lie.

So she puffs out her chest, affronted and scoffs. "Excuse me?" she demands.

Nick doesn't back down, like she'd expected him to. Instead, he shrugs. In all things, he's always been confident, and it appears that that also applies to him when he's in 'confrontation mode'. In fact, the stupid smirk is still ghosted on his face. It's odd how he can look so serious, and yet retain the charm that she loves to see.

But now is so not the time to be thinking about that.

Because she's pissed, damnit.

"Tell me that you don't fake being happy around me." He says.

For a minute, Caroline doesn't know what to say. She knows that when it comes to him talking to her that way, she shouldn't take it. He shouldn't be telling her to do anything. Surely, it's not the words themselves. It's the way he says them. The words that are coming out of his mouth are so passionate and full of meaning that she's sort of left breathless.

Still, she's a stubborn young lady.

"You don't get to tell me what to do." She says quickly. She pushes herself from her seated position (they had been studying side by side on the sofa) and onto her feet.

He looks sort of lost at that, as though that is a huge shock to him. Then he shakes his head slightly, as if reminding himself that he can't be surprised by that. Caroline frowns slightly, but then he's firing back at her and the thought leaves her head.

"I can't ask you to be real with me?" he echoes, standing as well. He's taller than her now—she's taken her shoes off to be more comfortable—so she has to look up to him. Still, she doesn't back down, squaring her shoulders and watching him strongly.

"I'm telling you that you can't tell me what to do." She says again, because she really doesn't want to get into the real reason she's so pissed.

Looks like he's not going to let her avoid it though.

He calls her on it.

"You're avoiding something, and I don't want it to be me." He says it so sincerely that she almost melts for a minute. Then she's reminded that he's asking her to open up to him—more than she already has—and since she's decided that opening up is what's ruined her other relationships, she holds her ground.

"That's not up to you."

He watches her closely for a second, staying silent. He's got that angry silence thing down pat.

So she rolls her eyes. (It has a good effect, though. He recoils as though she's just hit him. He looks so hurt, for just a second that Caroline feels terrible. And, naturally, that makes her angry).

They yell for almost half an hour. Bringing up everything that he possible can, he still can't make her open up about who she really is. He wants to know and he's persistent and then she's screaming at him—full on screaming.

"What do you _want _from me?"

She's confused about how this has escalated so fast, but now they're standing, with only the coffee table in between them, and all she wants to do is yell (and maybe slam him down on the couch and mount him but that one she's going to keep to herself).

"I want to know the real you!"

His words are yelled as aggressively as hers have been but they terrify her. She stomps her foot on the ground and it makes him smirk. Something snaps.

Fine. If he wants to know her, he can fucking know her.

She speeds over to him, vampiric speed full in force, and pushes him into the mantle. Her hands are clenched in his shirt again (it's another grey one, but it's got a different neckline). He stares into her eyes—looking not nearly shocked enough—as her eyes flash for a minute. She wants to know who she is, doesn't he?

Still, she's been thinking about kissing him ever since she realised that British guys are really hot when they get mad. And he's a hot British guy who's really quite mad, and it's all a bit intense.

So she kisses him furiously again, the same way she did in the club. It's a bit more aggressive (they have been screaming at each other for the last half hour) but he seems to have bounced back extremely quickly for someone who's making out with a monster.

Then he scares the crap out of her and pushes back. She finds her back pressed against the wall now—the opposite one to the mantle that she'd pressed him against—and there's a crack in the plaster where her back has hit. "I'll fix that," he murmurs, before furiously kissing her back.

Holy fuck, he's a vampire too.

.:.

**A/N**: I feel kind of shitty for skipping their entire fight, but I really didn't want to write it all down. It is supposed to be one of those long winded arguments that just go ON and ON and I felt that it was better to explain rather than write all the dialogue.

Anyway, I've been listening to Jeff Dunham videos on youtube while I write this, and have been a bit distracted. Hopefully, I'm with it enough to not have made as many mistakes in this one. :S I'm a little concerned.

I can't believe HOW popular this fic is with you guys. Just over sixty reviews for three chapters? That has NEVER happened to me before, and I'm LOVING it. So PLEASE keep it up :P Everyone who hasn't reviewed before, this is your chance to join a group of brilliant people who are the real reason I'm motivated to update so often. (Trust me, if you've read my other stuff, then you'd know that me updating is a RARITY AT BEST.)

So yes. Everyone! Review! Cheers.

xx.

_**A/N: (updated 14/03/2012) **__Lol, I just noticed that a lot of my readership is American, and really won't get the way that I've written the date. Sorry about that. In Australia, writing the date goes: DD/MM/YY as in Day/Month/Year. Apparently, you do it the other way around in America. (Weird. :P) Anyway, this has been edited and gone over. As I've said before, if you see anything wrong with it still, let me know. _


	5. pulse is gone and racing

**A/N: **I don't own anything that you recognise. Except the disc sets of season one and two of TVD, and a shit load of university textbooks that are WAY too expensive for their own good. Have at them (the textbooks, I mean. If you go for my box sets, shit'll hit the fan).

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: _Decadedancer_ asked when the Caroline did meet Klaus in the show, and as far as I can remember, it was the night that Tyler was turned into a hybrid. When Klaus forced Tyler to drink Elena's blood, Rebekah has to hold Caroline back. ANYWAY, this is the meeting that I've AU'd, so hopefully it's correct. But you guys seem WAY better with your knowledge of the show, so if he does meet her earlier, please let me know. :D

ALSO, I have a beta now. Snaps for Katty who offered after I put chapter four out! BIG THANKS, and I'm sure everyone reading is also super grateful. :P

.:.

"_Pulse is gone and racing"_

.:.

"I don't understand," Elena says slowly, watching as the oldest Salvatore brother moves across the large lounge room, the younger brother notably looming in the background behind him. "Are you saying that Klaus is gone?"

Caroline is sitting beside her friend on the brown leather couch that she just kind of wants to go to sleep on. Stefan is leaning casually on the wall of the large meeting room in the Salvatore Boarding house. He's still fully entrenched in 'douche-bag' mode, so when Caroline's gaze falls on him, she can't help but glare at him. He smirks. Oh _god. _

Still, the younger Salvatore shifts his stance off the wall at hearing Elena's question.

"We're saying that he might as well be." He answers vaguely. Then he's back to leaning against the wall, just on a different shoulder and Caroline directs her eyes towards the ceiling. It's difficult to look at Stefan when he's acting like Damon used to—back when she'd been compelled, used and abused by the older brother.

Damon is standing much closer in front of them, pacing agitatedly, shifting his weight and thinking furiously. He's the one who called this impromptu meeting. For kind of basically the reasons Stefan and Elena just highlighted. Klaus has seemingly vanished off the face of the earth—and yet his hybrids remain, as well as there being a constant presence in the ever-building mansion that he'd taken up residence in.

It can't be good.

"He's planning something big." Damon says, his eyes flashing and widening in that crazy way that he still managed to make kind of sexy. "_Huge, _even."

And that just annoys Caroline to be honest. Because really? She has way too much on her plate to start thinking about a crazy, impulsive original vampire who she's yet to meet. Instead, she can worry about Nick—the vampire who she'd accidentally invited into her home when she'd thought he was human. He's been texting her all morning (and the night before). Ever since she'd freaked out and kicked him out of her house.

If anything, Nick's persistent.

But she needs to be worried by Klaus's vanishing act as well. He's a dangerous person—an impending presence that, left unmonitored in what had to be the most deadly town in the world, can wreak havoc whenever he likes. She needs to not be thinking about Nick right now. She needs to be thinking about Klaus.

Still, it's hard to pull her mind from thoughts of the sandy-haired, young (well, _young looking _– who knows how old he actually is?) vampire who'd somehow swept her - and certain parts of her body she much rather ignore – up and away. (It is way too early for Caroline to mention the word heart, but the organ aches every time his name whizzes through her head.) She'd even contemplated continuing to kiss him, pretending that she hadn't noticed, for the smallest moment. It was, of course, before she came to her senses and kicked him to the curb (not really accomplishing anything, since he now had an invite into her house and _fuck, _she's so screwed).

"What can we do though?" she asks (about Nick and Klaus combined). "Klaus isn't someone that we can stop by ourselves. If he wants to stay inside and be a hermit, then he will."

Caroline is just being honest. Someone needs to state the obvious. Sure, this meeting was good—it was a nice excuse to avoid thinking about Nick. But Klaus is an original vampire, and there's really nothing that any of them can do to stop him if he _does_ anything.

Damon seems to have thought of this.

"Just because we can't stop him doesn't mean we need to be entirely clueless. We need to know what he's planning so we can work out a way to minimize the casualties." He declares.

Elena flinches beside her, probably thinking of Jenna. The word casualties have never been a good one, but it affects Elena more than most. It's a compassion thing.

Stefan rolls his eyes. "We need to draw him out." He says quickly, "get him in a weak spot and attack."

God, douchey Stefan _sucks_.

Both Elena and Caroline scoff at the same time, rolling their eyes and looking away. Rick, who has been up til this point, had been sitting on the other sofa opposite Caroline and Elena and silently contemplating what everyone is saying, finally moves. He leans forward in the chair, and uses his own knees as arm rests as he looks at everyone.

"What we need to do is prepare ourselves. If Klaus is planning something, then we at least need to know what it is." He says evenly. He's watching Elena closely—as though he's worried that she could break down at any second—but his gaze also flicks squarely to Damon. Ever since the vampire had snapped his neck, Rick's seemed more cautious about the impulsive Salvatore's reactions.

Caroline nods her head. He happens to say exactly what Damon has said, but left the details of death out of the equation. It's nice to not have to think about the casualties of war, especially when it seems to just follow Klaus around. But with Rick's wording, and the calm tone that comes with it, it's easier to just focus on the endgame.

"So, the plan is?" She asks, going straight to the point.

Still, she can't help but find it odd that she's included in these discussions. Not all the time, obviously, but still. They're not some little committee that meets whenever one of them has a thought. But this time, Damon himself had been the one to come and collect her from her house, with Elena in tow, telling her that they had a problem.

_You and me both, mate,_ she'd been keen to respond, but she'd overlooked the urge and instead followed them back to the mansion. She doesn't want Damon too close to the house anyway, in case he can smell that Nick has been there – how will she have explained how the scent of an unfamiliar vampire came to be in her house?

But she _is_ a part of this discussion. Stefan is less a part of the group than she is, these days – what with his emotions flipped off and his forced ties to Klaus. Caroline doesn't really have any clue how to feel about it, with everything else going on.

There is a pause before anyone responds to her question.

To everyone's dismay, it's Stefan who speaks.

"Observation." He says, as though it's perfectly obvious. He's still under Klaus's compulsion to be totally weird and emotionless, but it looks like he's able to plot about his boss easily enough. His gaze darts to Damon. "How are you coming on finding Mikael?" he asks.

Ah yes.

Mikael.

Their saving grace, apparently. At least according to Damon, who got it from Jeremy, who got it from his ex-girlfriend Anna when he was going through his whole 'I see dead people' phase. Mikael's supposed to be the solution to their Klaus shaped problem.

Too bad they had no idea how to find him.

"Katherine's on it." Damon says quickly, but the promptness of his response tells everyone in the room that he really doesn't have any idea about the progress that the bitchy vampire has made.

All Caroline knows is that if Katherine comes back and gets to be part of the gang, she's out. Oh, she's so _out of here. _

The vampire who'd murdered her had a habit of coming to town and then getting crazy jealous of Elena. For a woman who claimed to not care about the Salvatores, she often reacted furiously when she got bad news about their renewed love lives, and Caroline had learnt that in the past, she was often the one to pay for it. Today, Caroline has bigger things to deal with than the crazy jealousy that Katherine always got whenever she came into town.

"Do you have anything for me to do?" Caroline asks, clearing her throat as she stands, ready to leave. She's probably going to grab one of the Salvatore's blood bags before she goes, and she's thinking about that when Damon responds.

She's surprised because she never gets any real jobs from Damon, ever.

But this sounds real enough.

"Watch out for new people coming to town. We don't need any more suspicious people around to stir things up." Damon tells her seriously.

Great, Caroline thinks. _Fucking _great.

.:.

Caroline decides to walk back. She considers running back—that option meaning that she'd be home in seconds—but she's just finished off a bag of blood and she's not sure if she wants to go traipsing through the forest, so she walks casually.

Also, there's still a hole in the wall from her make out session with Nick the Mystery Vampire that makes her insides burn. (For the moment, she's rearranged the furniture in the lounge, so that a large bookshelf now hides her indiscretion, but sooner or later, Liz is going to find out). She needs to get it fixed before then.

But every time she walks into that damn room she can taste him on her breath again, and feel the pressure he'd pushed against her when their tongues had clashed.

What's worse is the memory only makes her want to jump the guy again. It doesn't rouse any guilt or embarrassment until moments later, when she realises what she's thinking.

She shakes her head and sighs.

This isn't helping either, the slow walk. It was supposed to be a way to avoid Nick, but instead, her brain has decided to use the time to think about him. She can't flush him from her mind so she closes her eyes and runs, trying to escape him.

.:.

Again, it doesn't really work.

Mostly the reason for that is because he's waiting for her when she gets home.

"What the hell do you want?" she demands. She's on the defensive immediately (wouldn't you be?) and she's not in the mood to put up with any of his games.

He looks hurt at her angry words and seeing the expression makes her feel a pang of regret again. She curses her damn emotions for the thousandth time that day before pushing the feeling away and glaring more closely at him. If she narrows her eyes into squints, he won't be able to look into them and see inside her soul.

"Do you hate me?" he asks. It's a small voice now, void of all the arrogance that Caroline has grown so accustomed to. It makes her want to jump him again, so she scowls.

"Yes." She answers back stonily.

The word looks as though it's physically hit him in the gut. But that's not the end of it—how could she expect it to be? He wasn't about to let her go without a fight, she realises as a frission of excitement runs up her spine. He's here to fight for her.

Against her, but still. It's romantic.

Oh god she's pathetic.

"I thought you knew," he murmurs.

She starts. He _what? _

"How could I possibly know?" she demands suddenly, stepping forward. Her words are so aggressive that she's almost snarling at him, but how dare he—how _dare _he—suggest that him lying to her was her fault?

He looks at her for a moment, before something akin to realisation dawns on his features. "Can't you tell?" he asks her. "Can't you tell right now?"

Caroline frowns. "How the hell could I tell?"

Oh, he did not just _smirk _at her.

But he did. And now he's walking right towards her, so he's in her personal space again and that makes her body (and some part of her chest that she refuses to acknowledge is her heart) sing for his presence, while her mind wants him to get the hell away. She places a firm scowl on her face.

He's standing maybe a foot away from her, watching her expectantly. When she doesn't say something, he bows his head a little.

"Oh, the things I could show you, Caroline Forbes." He murmurs.

Wow. How is it possible for a voice to feel that smooth? His words are so perfect that she doesn't say anything back. This time, she waits for him to continue.

He does. "You need to listen," he urges her. "Really listen."

This makes her roll her eyes. "Listen for what?"

He looks at her, bending his head a bit more so that he can look right into her eyes. "Listen for what isn't there."

Then he reaches forward, grabs her hand and presses it against his heart. His body is warm beneath the thin material of his shirt, and just feeling him again (even if they had been kissing furiously enough to break her house the night before) makes her fingers tingle. She wants to fist her hand in that shirt again and yank him to her all over.

But his words have had an impact too, and suddenly all she can hear is what isn't there. His lack of a heartbeat screams at her. His chest is moving—he's definitely breathing—but the movement is more reflexive that automatic, and she knows that he doesn't need the oxygen he's inhaling. When she listens even closer, she notices that she can't hear his blood rushing, or anything like that. He doesn't cough or sneeze (one of the perks that they never mention when doing the whole vampire induction thing). There's a whole lot of nothing. She wonders how she hasn't noticed this before – it's so obvious now that he's showing her.

As her fist is curled around his shirt, she can suddenly see the short chain around his neck—and attached to it, the soft green stone. She thinks to Katherine's bracelet, the one that lets her walk in the sun and suddenly marvels at her own stupidity. How could she just assume that the ring was the one with the lapis lazuli stone? When there are so many more options. His necklace must be the key, she thinks, as she lifts up one finger to trace the chain.

He watches her silently.

Her gaze darts up to meet his. "You knew about me." She says accusingly, because it's the truth and it's suspicious and she can't just let this go.

He shrugs his shoulders a little helplessly. "I could hear it the second I saw you in the Grill. I just assumed that you'd done the same."

It makes sense, and at this point, all Caroline wants is to forgive him. He's her perfect guy, after all.

Maybe even more so now with this new development brought to light.

But he can't be, and the reason is exactly what Damon had said earlier. Strange, unfamiliar vampires don't just wander into Mystic Falls, especially since everyone must know that Klaus had resurfaced in the area.

She pulls her hand away from his necklace, even though she had been revelling in the touch of his skin under her fingertips. "Why are you here?" she demands, stepping away from him. Now, she's good. He isn't filling up every sense of hers and she can actually think properly this time.

He knows exactly what she means, and he looks awkward for a moment and she knows it's bad.

But it's not nearly as bad as she thinks.

"I'm here with you because I like you," he says slowly. "Because I think you could be so much more and I want to help you become that. I don't like seeing you stuck in this small town—and I don't want you to think that this is the only choice you'll ever have in life."

It's impossible that he is this perfect. He knows what she's thinking, he knows who she wants to be, he knows her weaknesses and her strengths and he knows how to be exactly the man she wants him to be. He's also now conveniently immortal as well. And he's British.

Still, the speech gets her. He's here for her.

He's here for _her. _

In the time it takes her to really digest everything that he's said, there has been a significant pause. You'd think that since vampires could move faster they should be able to think faster, but for the moment, it wasn't happening. The wait is long enough that Nick looks nervous when she finally tunes back into reality.

She leaves another beat of silence, a conscious moment of contemplation—thinking about the enormity of what she's about to do.

Then she turns on her heel and walks towards the door, leaving him behind.

Another pause, when she's at her door, halting at its threshold and turning to look at him.

"Are you coming?" she asks, as though she's tired with him, "because I have some English homework with your name on it, and you're not doing me any favours standing out there."

The smile that flashes onto his face is so beautiful that Caroline almost wishes she could preserve it, and she knows she's made the right decision.

.:.

**A/N: **So, in the end, I didn't want Caroline to be angry with Nick for this, because she wasn't exactly honest about herself either. He could have thought she was human for all she knows. Anyway, looks like all is good in AU Klaroline land for now.

I've decides to make this fic a little longer than I'd originally intended. Maybe between twelve to sixteen chapters now. Hopefully that will satisfy everyone who's been begging me to make the story longer.

Also, regarding the response I've gotten for this story... Oh, _my god. _Guys. There are four chapters to this story and you've already given me _one hundred and one _reviews, thus far. That's just SO amazing, I can't even really express how grateful I am to you all. Please keep it up though guys, you are motivating me to update _so _quickly. I will have the next chapter for you in max three days.

You guys are amazing. I love you all. Legit.

xx


	6. all fits and starts

**A/N: **If you recognise anything in this fic, then it doesn't belong to me. I only possess a buttload of university debt (so don't sue me) and too much cynicism for my own good.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: It was mentioned to me that I am spelling the name 'Nick' wrong in this fic. I'd just love to direct those of you who believe that to the first authors note of the first chapter. I am very aware that the correct spelling is 'Nik'. But, because this entire fic is from Caroline's POV, and I don't think she'd just assume it has messed up spelling, I'm going with Nick for the moment. As the story progresses, so will the way she views his name. Cheers.

.:.

"_All fits and starts."_

.:.

So after weeks of an awkward friendship, Caroline finally sorts things out with Bonnie. It had taken a few minutes (maybe half an hour tops), but they'd sat down and discussed everything that they'd needed to. Now, it was Bonnie who walked beside her towards the oval. Caroline had to be on time for cheerleading practice and they were taking the time they had to catch up on each other.

"So, Elena says you've met a guy?"

Caroline's cheeks flush (the way they do every time Nick is mentioned these days) and she shyly smiles at her own shoes. She's not usually this shy about her relationships (especially when they're going this well), so Bonnie is instantly intrigued.

"Come on, Caroline," she says with a smile on her face. "Spill."

Caroline isn't too keen on sharing too much information about Nick, even now. There is the fact that he's a vampire to worry about. There's no way she's telling anyone that—because she knows it will get back to the Salvatore's, and there isn't even a Stefan around to keep Damon tame these days. Both brothers are far too much for her to take on if they caught wind of that fact, and she won't let them near Nick. He won't be hurt because of her. Plus, she's just got her friendship with Bonnie back – so it's probably better not to ruin it so soon with that little titbit of information.

But, even beyond that, he's still hers. He's her secret to keep and she doesn't want to hear it from Elena or Bonnie that he's 'cute' or his accent is 'adorable'. He's _all_ hers_._ She's the only one allowed to think those thoughts.

But still. Some boastful details wouldn't hurt.

"His name is Nick," she says to Bonnie with a grin on her face. "He's just returned back to Mystic Falls."

Bonnie smiles, interested.

"So he's been here before?"

Caroline nods her head. "I think that he grew up here." From the stories he's told, this is the assumption she's made. He hasn't been too forthcoming with the details about his past. Now that she thinks about it, it could have been decades since he grew up in Mystic Falls. She really hasn't thought to ask. "But I think he went to London in the middle. He's got a bit of an accent."

This makes Bonnie's smile widen. They've made their way to the oval now, where the footballers are already at practice, in full uniform. Some of the cheerleaders who got there early have gathered, already in their own uniforms, to watch.

"That's good Caroline. You deserve that."

As if to reinforce the words, Tyler – who is on the oval playing with his friends – scores a touchdown and boasts his victory by pulling his shirt up over his head and running around blind. Caroline hesitates briefly before pushing down the feelings of regret she gets when she looks at him. Tyler was a big part of her life and would always be important to her. She's realised this, and she's sick of trying to ignore him for the sake of saving face. He was there when she needed help with her mother, and when she came into her own as a vampire.

But, she reminds herself, Nick is associated with a lot that's far better, so she's happy to let the young hybrid go. Plus, Tyler's presence in her life now would have been nothing more than dangerous. She couldn't be that near to someone who was loyal to Klaus. This is only reinforced with Tyler's next move. As soon as his head is free again, he's running towards the other cheerleaders, a goofy grin on his face.

Still, for a terrifying moment, Caroline thinks he's coming to talk to her. She's both relieved and outraged when she realises that he's instead heading to another girl (one who she doesn't recognise). He pauses and grins, talking to her, and she is so obviously flirting back with him.

Bonnie looks nervously at Caroline, as if she was trying to gage her reaction. But Caroline doesn't care, she reminds herself. She has Nick—and he's all she could ever ask for. So she grins appreciatively at Bonnie for her concern. She _does_ deserve Nick, she feels. He's possibly the greatest thing to happen to her—especially when compared to her murder and Klaus' presence here in the town. It's almost easy to continue on as if nothing's amiss with that in mind.

So instead, Caroline just checks her watch and decides that she probably has a good couple of minutes before she has to say goodbye to Bonnie. They're about to move to sit down on the green lawn when a pretty blonde arrives in front of them. It's the same girl that Tyler had just been speaking to. Caroline can't help but notice that now they are all standing together, Tyler's gaze is trained firmly on the three of them.

Right. _Of course. _

Bonnie's expression darkens instantly, and Caroline promptly tenses in response.

"You're the one in charge of the squad, is that right?" The blonde girl asks Caroline, who has to struggle not to be surprised by the trivial question.

She glances at Bonnie before nodding her head slowly. Still, she can't help the smile from crawling on to her face. She likes to have people like her. It's a flaw. "I am," she says brightly. "And you are?"

The blonde girl shifts her weight slightly, and crosses her arms across her chest. She moves her gaze to Bonnie and smiles coldly. "Why don't you tell your friend who I am?" she says icily, raising a single eyebrow in challenge. The mannerism is familiar to Caroline, but she can't quite place it.

Bonnie rises to the challenge and juts her chin out, glaring. "Caroline, this is Rebekah," she says strongly, "Klaus' sister."

At once, Caroline recoils. She pulls into herself, suddenly faced with an original vampire – who wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone if it suited their purpose. She feels helpless, all of a sudden, and quashed. Like she's been stuck in a small place and there's no way for her to get out.

Rebekah seems to have noticed.

"Nice to meet you." She says with a grin that freezes Caroline's insides. "I hear you're the one I have to talk to about signing up for cheerleading."

Caroline realises that she has two choices.

She can either tell this original vampire bitch that there is no way she's getting on to the squad, and that Rebekah can just deal with it. But that will probably result in the blonde girl (who looks way too pretty for Caroline to be entirely comfortable with) killing a couple of people around, and maybe her, and possibly even urging her brother to come out of hiding and finally put the huge plan he must be plotting into action.

Which, obviously isn't good.

The second option, of course, is much harder. She can tell Rebekah that it is fine for her to join the team, and that they do have an available spot that no one else has been interested in filling (no one with potential, that is). That will result in Caroline's eternal pain, but people shouldn't die as the result, and that's all Caroline can really ask for these days.

"Yeah," Caroline says, rather reluctantly (even if she is confident that she's making the right decision). "Just grab a uniform and get geared up. I'll see what you've got."

Rebekah flashes a sickly sweet smile at her. "Oh, don't worry." She says while the smile on her face changes, making the hair on Caroline's neck stand on end. "I already did."

What a _bitch. _

Rebekah turns on her heel and flounces away. The second her back is turned, Caroline's pulled out her phone. She wants to text Elena and demand to know why she was the only one who didn't know that Klaus has a sister in town. She wants to make sure that they know that Rebekah has situated herself in the school, probably for some sort of Klaus-esque end game.

But before she can do this, she realises that she already has a text message. She must have not noticed her phone vibrating in her pocket.

It's from Nick.

_Are you having a good day, beautiful? _

That makes Caroline smile. She can't help but show the text to Bonnie, who thinks it's cute but is still more concerned with Rebekah. She doesn't understand though; how Caroline has forgotten about the Original sister so quickly. But it makes sense in Caroline's head. If she has Nick, does she really need to worry about the rest of this superficial drama? The answer's yes, but for just this moment, Caroline pretends that it's a no.

.:.

Several weeks pass, somehow, with little trouble.

Caroline and Nick are sitting in her bedroom, just chatting. They've long since finished her homework tonight and he isn't keen to go out tonight, so they decide to just hang out. He's sitting at her dresser going through her makeup. It's not like he's trying it on or anything, but he's sniffing at her perfume and sorting them out into the ones that he likes and the ones that he doesn't like. Caroline's curled up at the head of her bed, squished among her pillows, looking at the sketch that he's done of her. Her eyes are softer than they've ever looked and the strokes of charcoal make her face look smooth. He's made her beautiful and it's probably the most stunning thing that she's ever seen.

"So tell me about your day," he says softly, sniffing her Sex in the City perfume and nodding his head in approval. It moves to the good pile and he moves on.

Caroline sighs and leans back. She's careful not to crinkle the paper as she places it down, before she throws her hands into the air in frustration. "You have no idea the drama I've gone through."

It's been a couple of weeks since Rebekah joined the squad and Nick is already far too aware of Caroline's annoyance with the Original vampire. He seems oddly amused by her fury with the blonde, and spends a lot of the time chuckling at her remarks. Today is no different, and her irritation makes him smile.

"What did the original girl do today?" he asks with a smile. Caroline had initially thought that he was making fun of her when he laughed, but he's assured her that it's nice to see that she gets angry. It makes her more real to him, he says. Meaning, he's basically given her the freedom to vent without worry.

"She was all over the girls today." Caroline complains furiously. "Telling them how to cheer and what to wear and how to wear it." She pouts angrily. "It's like she's trying to take over my life."

Nick chuckles slightly to himself as he sets down some more of her perfume. This stuff is brand-less and from the local store, and is firmly put in the dislike portion. "I'm sure no one could be you as well as you can." He tells her.

This makes Caroline blush slightly, but she pushes the smile away. It's nice that he thinks this, but for the moment she really just wants to complain about the Originals.

"And what the hell does Klaus think he's doing anyway?" She demands.

There's a moment of silence during which Nick watches her. Then he shrugs his shoulders slightly and clears his throat. "What do you mean, sweetheart?"

The sweetheart is enough to distract her a little, and a warm feeling spreads in her stomach before she realises that they're chatting about Klaus and she shouldn't ever feel like this when he's involved.

So she scowls and leans back a little, further into her pillows. "I mean with all his mysterious hiding. He's been alive for a thousand years, hasn't he? Shouldn't he know that being mysterious is just fucking annoying?"

Nick smirks at this. "Are you sure that's what it is?" he asks. He moves instantly from the chair to the foot of her bed, leaning forward towards her and smirking slyly.

But Caroline is adamant. "Yeah, I'm sure." She says quickly. "That's what it is. It's also kind of creepy."

He moves slowly towards her now, his hand reaching across the mattress so that he's steadying himself across her body. His arms are on either side of her legs and he's watching her through hooded eyes that ignite the warmth in her stomach. "Really, Caroline? I thought _I _was mysterious."

Caroline quirks an eyebrow at that.

"You are." She challenges deftly.

He leans in closer now. Inches away from her lips and for a moment she thinks that he's going end their discussion with a bit of fun, but then he shifts slightly and instead goes to the side of her face. His lips brush the shell of her ear, sending shivers down her spine. It's as his lips are grazing the soft skin of her neck when he speaks.

"Do you find me _annoying?"_ he whispers silkily.

He knows that the neck is a soft spot for vampires, Caroline thinks. He must know what he's doing to her right now. Tilting her head back and resting it on the frame of the bed, Caroline bites her lip and relents. "Fine," she says, allowing a simper of a smirk to grace her features. "Maybe it's not always terrible."

He rewards her with a nip on the collarbone, just above the cut of her top, that makes her sigh out loud. But following that, she realises what she's saying. Moving suddenly, she makes sure he can look her in the eye when she says, "but not with Klaus. You're sexy mysterious, but not Klaus. Klaus is a monster."

There is an odd flash in his eye for a mere moment before it vanishes and Caroline forgets it.

He falls to his side then, so he isn't on top of her any more, and for a moment she regrets losing the feeling of his weight pressed down on hers. She lets that feeling of regret go and instead turns to face him as he leans on one elbow, contemplating her.

He lifts the hand of the arm that he's not leaning on to play with the curls of her hair. He doesn't say anything though. He leaves it to her to fill the silence.

She's happy to do so.

"The thing is," she says angrily, moving back to safer waters, "Rebekah's not even that _good_ at cheering."

She's lying. Of course she is. Rebekah is a thousand year old original vampire. Of course she's developed agility over the years, not to mention enhanced speed and strength. There is no way that Rebekah is just boasting about empty talents. They both know this, even though only Caroline has seen the evidence. So Caroline's words bring a smile onto Nick's face and he throws his head back and laughs.

Caroline pouts, beside him, and decides to be bold.

"Plus," she says, as though he isn't laughing at her, and she isn't saying this just to get at him. "She's all over Tyler. I mean, what is that abou—?"

That's as far as she gets. Even though she's watching him carefully to gage his reaction to her words, she isn't prepared for how fast he moves. Suddenly, he is on top of her pressing her into the mattress and kissing her furiously. She responds as soon as she figures out what has happened, lifting a hand to rest on the back of his neck – pulling him impossibly closer.

"You're not jealous are you, love?" He whispers harshly down to her, while he brings a hand up to caress her side. Her shirt rides up a little and his fingers brush her warm skin, sending jolts of pleasure through her body.

She doesn't have time to reply then, because in the millisecond it took him to pull away and speak, she's still a little breathless from the experience. By the time she's recovered, he's already kissing her again, taking away her breath once more.

She uses the word perfect a lot to describe Nick, she's noticed recently. But when she's spending time with a man like this, how could she not? It's the perfect word for him. He's perfect to her, he's perfect when he's around her, and he sure as hell looks perfect (not that that matters to her...Much).

His hand crawls up her shirt slightly and she feels lightheaded, even if she doesn't really need to breathe. She's grasping at him again, pulling him closer with a tug of his shirt with one hand, while the other plays with the curls at the nape of his neck. He pulls away, letting her take an unnecessary breath of air, before he moves back down to her neck.

"Caroline?" he whispers huskily. "You didn't answer my question."

To be fair, she thinks, she's been a little distracted. Her lack of response seems to amuse him slightly, as the smirk creeps onto his face. He looks down at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"Are you jealous about your ex, Caroline?" he asks.

Oh god, the way he _says_ her name.

"God, no." She says, squirming slightly under him so his leg slips between hers and there's suddenly pressure exactly where she needs it to be. She exhales softly, pressing herself flush to his body. The move motivates him to action and he restarts his assault on her neck and chest.

His hand is up her shirt now, playing with the edge of her bra, while his thumb softly runs across the skin of her stomach. Everywhere he touches illicit a reaction from her and it's a surprise that she's still able to comprehend what's going on. Her hands move now, down to his waist, running across the expanse of his back before she grasps the hem of the shirt and pulls it up. He moves back for a second now, allowing her to haul the shirt over his head before he dives back in and kisses her again. At once, the clothing in her hands become meaningless compared to the exposed skin right there for her to explore, it slipping from mind her as quickly as it slips from her fingers.

She runs her hands across the muscles of his stomach, noting the slight imperfections that mar the skin. He is a vampire, after all, and he must have been in a few altercations in his lifetime that left scars. Whatever the cause, she doesn't want to ruin the moment now by bringing them up. Not while he's kissing her so soundly.

He moves from her lips, this time shifting his whole body down as he begins to pepper her chest with kisses. His hands move higher now, without resistance from Caroline, and she lets out a soft whimper when his hand grasps her breast. He lets out a little moan as soon as he touches her that sets her insides alight and makes her legs clench around his leg.

He moves back, just for a moment, and brings his hands down as well. He tugs at the hem of her shirt—the same way that she had done to him—and similarly, Caroline has no qualms about leaning forward and lifting her arms, so he can pull the offending garment from her. He stares at her for a moment (only just a moment, not long enough to make her feel uncomfortable under his gaze) before his hands are on her again, and his mouth is on hers.

They kiss for what seems like hours before he pulls away. It's been perfect, so with his disappearance comes a whimper of loss from Caroline. He hastily shushes her, running his hand along her side. Somehow, her bra is still on, and Caroline is oddly comforted by how happy he is to move slowly.

"Come away with me."

Or not.

Caroline stops and looks at him. It takes a couple of minutes for her brain to catch up from its distracted state and digest his words. "What?" she stutters, when she finally figures it out.

He shrugs as though it's the simplest thing in the world. "Not for too long," he explains, "Just a trip out of town for a couple of days."

She pauses, before pushing herself up on the pillows, resting now on her elbows. He's moved back a little, so that she doesn't hit him, but his warmth is still overpowering her and she certainly doesn't want him to move any further. "I have school," she points out feebly.

"Skip it. Come away with me."

She frowns slightly at his nonchalance toward her education. Still, she can't stop the smile from creeping onto her face and overtaking her down-turned lips, nor can she stop the exhilarated feeling that's suddenly started in her chest. "Where?" She asks rather breathlessly.

Again, he shrugs. "Wherever you'd like to go."

She watches him for a moment. His lips are pink and slightly puffy from all the kissing they've been doing, and her hands have wreaked havoc to his hair. But his eyes are wide open and hopeful as they watch her. If the boyish pout on his face isn't enough to get her to agree, then the promise of actually leaving Mystic Falls for a few days is, so she grins.

"Okay."

.:.

**A/N: **Guys, I have honestly never seen a fic this popular. It's blowing me away. Especially since I advertised it on Tumblr and a whole new group of people began to read it. It's really amazing.

What I need from you guys this week is a promise that you'll give me feedback on the last scene :P As you know (if you read the blurby thing on the main TVD page) this is heading towards 'M rated' land, and it's the first time I've ever attempted to write anything like it. Suggestions, comments, ideas, criticisms, EVERYTHING is welcome. I need you guys to help me make this fic better for you guys ;)

ALSO, I totally watched the Ben Hur 2010 miniseries last night. Guys. It's AMAZING. JoMo is shirtless pretty much ninety percent of the show—and it runs for THREE HOURS. It's all on youtube if you wanna check it out (type in Ben Hur 2010, and then find the three hour long video). I HIGHLY recommend it, because it is amazing.

Thanks guys :P

PS. Listening to the song 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri, after seeing it put to a Klaroline vid on youtube. Amazing song, amazing vid. Check em out. :D


	7. who touch and colour the hours

**A/N: **Anything you recognise belongs to someone else. I only possess, apparently, a hugely swelling ego, and an identity crisis. Neither of which you _want. _

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: changed my username. Heads up on that one, so you don't think I've just started plagiarising my old account. I'm now 'grim grace'. I like it more than my last one (which I've had for like, four years, so it was time for a change).

Also, again, I am aware that I've spelt 'Mikaelson' incorrectly. I went back, and checked the episode where it's spelt out on the invitations and I do know that, as with a lot of names, it's a 'K'. Still, the same with the spelling of 'Nick' in this fic, I don't assume that Caroline would just spell it all old worldy. So it's the same sort of deal as his first name, for now. ;)

:

"_Who touch and colour the hours."_

:

She's not really sure what to pack, but when she asks, he doesn't clear anything up for her. He just smiles and tells her to pack some of everything, because she surely has the space for it if they're only going for a couple of days. In preparation, she texts Elena first, telling her that she's going away with Nick for a few days, and should be back by next Monday (it's Wednesday today so that gives them four days, tops, to get to wherever they were going—but, to be fair, Caroline doesn't know about the travel time). Elena texts back instantly, asking her if Caroline really thinks that's a good idea. After all, she reasons, she has only known Nick a couple of months now.

Caroline switches her phone off and puts it in the bottom of her bag.

She ends up packing a little bit of everything. She's on the home phone to him as she's finishing, landline squished between her ear and her shoulder as she pulls her bags out to the front of the house. (She refuses to get her cell out of her bag. This is a friend-judgement free zone).

"What time are we leaving?" she asks, setting down the bag, and scanning the house for her mother.

Nick's voice, as always, is smooth in her ear. "I should be getting there in a couple of minutes," he tells her. "Now, sweetheart, how would you like to get there?"

Caroline furrows her brows at the question, not quite understanding, as she finally locates her mother in the kitchen. She stays in the living room for the moment. It's probably better to give Liz this news when she's not half distracted by her wonderful boyfriend (he asked her officially after he asked her to go away with him). "What do you mean?" she asks, confusion evident in her voice.

He chuckles slightly. "Shall we drive or fly?"

Caroline frowns. She honestly hadn't thought about that, really. She'd just kind of assumed they would be driving for a couple of hours before they arrived. But their trip was to somewhere that could require air travel?

"Where are we going?" She asks instantly.

She can imagine the smirk on his face as he laughs at the question. "Didn't we say it was a surprise?" he purrs.

She rolls her eyes (not that he can see it, but the sentiment's there). "Didn't we say that this mysterious thing was annoying?" she chides.

He chortles freely and she can hear the sound of traffic in the background. He's on his way, then. "Not when it comes to me though, right sweetheart?"

She grins at that. "Fine." She pouts playfully, even though he can't see her. "I have to talk to my mum—I'll see you in a few."

Caroline can hear the smile in his voice. "Alright." He says, before the click tells her that he's hung up. She places the landline on the hook and then strolls casually in to the kitchen. Her mother is at the sink, rinsing out a plate that she'd just been using.

Caroline's been avoiding telling her mum about this trip. Liz hasn't met Nick yet, and while Caroline has previously been rude when it comes to her relationships and Liz, she's recently been more invested in improving her communication with her mother. And obviously, the sheriff isn't going to be keen on her own daughter skipping school to go out of town with a boy.

She's considered lying for a moment, before deciding it's probably not best.

"I'm going away for the rest of the week, mum," she says quickly. Liz pauses to shut the water on the tap, placing her dish in the sink, and turns to look at her daughter.

"What about school?"

Caroline shrugged. "It's just a couple of days," she says. "And I've talked to my teachers and I'm ahead in all my work." It's kind of a lie, to be honest. She hasn't talked to her teachers at all (as if, come on) but she is ahead in her work. Having Nick around to help with her homework, and explain everything to her, means that she's actually ahead of her work these days and she knows what she's doing better than she has in a long time.

Liz answers her with a frown. "Caroline," she begins, the tone in her voice telling Caroline the exact way this conversation is about to go. She quickly puts a stop to that.

"Mum, this is important to me." She says suddenly. "I need a break from this town for a bit—I just need to get away from Klaus and from Damon and Stefan. Even Elena." She shrugs a little helplessly. "It's just for a couple of days."

It's a short, pretty pathetic plea in Caroline's book, but it does the trick. Liz's initially harsh face softens and she watches her daughter sadly for a minute. More convincing appears to be in order.

"I'm on top of all my school work and I can catch up easily. I have my cell phone, so you can call me whenever you want. I'll be fine." She continues with wide eyes and a determined tone.

Liz sighs loudly, but turns back to the dishes, moving to put the plate in the dishwasher. "As long as you're safe," she says quietly.

Caroline squeals with the affirmation and grins. Before Liz has the chance to say much more, she's engulfed in a soft hug from Caroline (soft from Caroline's perspective. She's really had to work on being gentle around humans these days—another benefit of a vampire boyfriend).

"Thank you so much, Mum," Caroline says, completely sincere. While she's surprised at the hug and the contact, Liz smiles mildly as well.

"Just be careful," she urges her daughter.

Moments later, Caroline hears a car pull up out front and the horn honks from outside. Caroline grins and releases her mother. "That's me," she says brightly.

Liz frowns. "Wait," she says slowly. "How long have you had this planned?"

Caroline offers up a guilty smile to her mother before turning on her heel and heading away, with a shout of "_love you!"_ resonating off the walls of the house.

.:.

Nick has chosen to go with the car, apparently taking her lack of response about the travel question as a 'yes please, I'd love to drive.' Caroline feels a little apprehensive as she slips into the passenger seat. How long will the car ride be if they are going somewhere that offers a flight?

She asks him this and he smiles a little sheepishly. "It's going to be a long drive," he offers vaguely. "But I figure that gives us more money to waste when we get there." His smile brightens as if that makes all the difference, before he leans across the gear stick towards her. "How was your morning?" he asks, kissing her softly before pulling back.

Caroline smiles widely, the kiss soothing all her worries until they vanish. She doesn't mind being stuck in a car with this man. In fact, the longer the drive, the better. "Very good." She says enthusiastically. "I managed to part with my mother on good terms."

Nick knows all about the worries she's had about this, so it puts a smile on his face. He shifts the car into drive and pulls out onto the road, before lifting his hand and resting it softly on Caroline's leg. "That's brilliant," he says, the accent _accentuating _the words.

Caroline beams.

"Now," she says, getting down to business. "Are you going to tell me where we're going, or am I going to have to play twenty questions with you?" she asks.

His mischievous grin is response enough.

.:.

About an hour into the trip, Caroline has given up trying to figure out where they're heading. Obviously, they're driving north, which makes her glad that she brought her heavy jackets with her since it's always a little colder there. Still, they pass through Richmond quickly, without bothering to stop. It isn't until the time they get to Washington do they stop, them both needing to stretch their legs. Caroline is a bit nervous when he pulls the car over in one of the streets. She'd been hoping that they were headed somewhere a bit more exotic than the capital—she'd already been here once on a school trip to the White House.

Nick notes the expression immediately and laughs slightly. "Don't be alarmed, sweetheart," he says with a throaty chuckle. "This is just a stop on the way."

Caroline can't help but let her relief show on her face. She climbs out of the car and revels in the feeling of her legs finally straightening as she stands by the sidewalk. She closes the car door behind her and then stretches her arms high into the sky. She can hear him getting out of the car as well, so she turns to face him.

He has a funny little smile on his face—probably because of her problem with Washington, and she frowns slightly.

"What's so funny?" she asks.

He smirks. "Nothing," he says simply, "just keep doing what you're doing."

It's then that she notices her body's position. It seems that the way she's lifted her arms to stretch has lifted her shirt slightly, showing off the pale white skin of her flat stomach. She's also kind of been jutting her boobs out, as well as arching her back so that it shows off her butt. Caroline rolls her eyes.

"You sleaze," she teases him, eliciting a chuckle in response.

Finished with her stretching, she looks around Washington for a moment. They're nowhere near any of the major landmarks in the city, so it just sort of looks like any old street, with graffiti on the walls and cars disrupting the peace every now and again. The frustration comes back with not knowing where in the hell they were going.

"Why can't you just tell me?" she whines, stomping her foot a little. He grins at her and moves quickly to her side, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her close to him. She rests her arms on his chest, the way she always does, and revels in the warmth under her hands.

"Because," he says, looking right into her eyes. "Isn't the surprise just a little bit thrilling?"

She stares at him silently for a moment before sighing. Rolling her eyes, she slumps a little, pressing closer to him. "I suppose," she mutters, closing her eyes.

He chuckles and leans in, pressing a soft, sweet kiss to her lips. She responds eagerly, pressing so much back that she's manoeuvred them into her pressing his backside into the closed passenger door, leaning against the exterior of his locked car. People walk past and she can hear them scoff but she doesn't mind. She's here with her brilliant boyfriend, who's happy to do things like this with her and spend hours in a car without feeling annoyed by her (she hopes. Well, he certainly isn't behaving like he's fed up with her company).

When she pulls away, she can feel the trademark grin he always seems to coax out on her face. The look appears to intrigue him and he quirks a brow. "What is it?"

Caroline bites her lip playfully. "Well, I've been complaining about the surprise a lot," she sighs wistfully, playing on her "large eyes" trick that she knows totally works on everyone, "and I know you're only doing it to have fun with me." She shrugs a little, planting an innocent look on her face. "I was just thinking of ways that I can make it up to you."

There's a flash of desire in his eyes, mingled with a little bit of surprise at her words, before his smirk becomes his own again and he's grinning down at her. "Oh, well you better tell me," he says seriously. "Just so I'm prepared."

Caroline smirks.

"Nah," she says, pushing herself off of him and standing upwards again. "Why don't we make it a surprise?"

.:.

Another hour into driving and Caroline has become pretty sick of it, beginning to wish that they'd just taken the plane. Nick had been telling her about the countryside and the small towns as they'd passed through, but he'd eventually fell into a contemplative silence while Caroline stared out the window.

"You can go to sleep, if you like." He offers, when he notices her eyes drooping. Mention of sleep makes her consider the possibilities, and a question pops into her head. She frowns slightly, before pushing her head up to look at him.

"How long is this drive going to be?" she asks. "I mean—are we stopping for a night?" If that's the case, it will prove to be a badly spent four days. Especially if they need two days to drive up and then two days to drive back. How long would they have actually there? Not long. A few hours at most, really.

Luckily, it doesn't look like that's going to be a problem—at least, that's what Caroline gathers from her man's cute smile. "The drive should take around eight hours," he explains with a sigh. "So I figure when we get there you can decide whether we stay in for the night, or go out."

Caroline nods in understanding. She starts to shift in her seat, so she's sitting straight again, and crosses her legs as best she can in the small space. Leaning forward to switch on the radio to some music at a respectable volume, Caroline grins when a modern tune comes on that she knows the words to. She sings along for a bit, smiling when she sees that Nick is grinning at her, before she leans back into her seat.

"We should play a driving game." She declares almost suddenly.

Nick laughs. "Don't you know you should never distract a driver, Caroline?" he jests.

Caroline rolls her eyes. "Doesn't count when the driver's a vampire with instant reaction time. Now come on," she orders, reaching across to grab one of his hands free from the wheel and pulls it into hers. "Play."

He smiles at her, squeezing her hand as she moves them together into her lap. His hand now rests with hers on her thigh, but it doesn't look like he's thinking anything _untoward. _Even vampires can't get _that _distracted while driving on the highways.

"What shall we play?" he asks, as he overtakes a slow moving truck and speeds to the limit again.

Caroline thinks about it for a moment. Car games are usually more fun with more than two people, and she's not too keen on playing something infantile like 'I Spy' or something. Maybe they can play something else.

"20 Questions?" she suggests.

Nick looks at her sharply. "As long as you don't ask where we're going." He warns.

Caroline brushes the concern aside. "No, no," she assures him. "I'm happy for that to be a surprise." She thinks to the other surprise that they've talked about and flushes slightly, which brings a smile to his features. He doesn't say anything more though, and Caroline takes that as a yes. "Alright then, I'll start," she begins excitedly. "What is your last name?"

Nick pauses in consideration before shrugging. "Michaelson," he responds with a grin. "It's a bit of a mouthful." He pauses for another moment as he thinks of his own question to ask. "I already know your last name, Forbes," he chides. "So... who is your favourite singer?"

She responds with Taylor Swift, which earns a roar of laughter from him. She pouts slightly, and rolls her eyes, waiting for his mirth to die down before her next question. When it does she raises an eyebrow, "Are you done?"

He's still chuckling slightly, but he nods.

She moves on.

"Did you have any siblings?" The question comes out awkward, because she automatically uses the past tense. It's only after she's spoken that she remembers that Stefan and Damon were turned together—and Klaus has Elijah and Rebekah, doesn't he? Maybe siblings aren't uncommon for vampires. "Uhm," she tries to correct herself. "Do you, I mean?"

Nick smiles slightly at her attempt to back track. "I had four brothers," he tells her with a sad smile. "But they're dead now. I do have a sister," his smile grows at the thought of her. "She's always been a wild card. I haven't seen her in a while."

The idea of a female version of Nick running around is a bit unnerving but Caroline disregards that feeling. Surely it must be nice to have a sibling to live through eternity with. She never had the option.

"What's her name?" Caroline can't help but ask.

Nick tuts and shakes his head. "Uh-uh," he says with a smirk. "This is my turn to ask question." Caroline rolls her eyes and relents, resting back into her seat and waiting. There's a quiet moment while he comes up with his next question. "What is your favourite colour?" he finally asks.

Caroline can't hold in the scoff, and her reaction makes him grin. "Seriously?" she laughs.

He grins and nods. "I'm waiting."

She finds that she actually has to think about it. What is her favourite colour these days? She remembers when it was pink (from the start of her life to practically the end of it). Now that she's a vampire and dead, she's been questioning her life's priorities. Colour has never really come into it but she finds that it does now.

In the end she decides on yellow, which she likes way more than pink these days, and just a little more than purple. She decides to follow Nick's example and start on with her own trivial questions, deciding to ask him what his favourite movie is.

He needs to think on that one. "The Godfather," he answers after a while. At Caroline's scoff in response, he looks a little affronted. "What?" he asks.

Caroline shrugs. "Why does every guy in the world like that movie?"

Nick winks. "It's a good movie."

Caroline rolls her eyes, having no response to that (it's not like she's seen the movie to be able to tell). But it's his question again, and this game has let the time move much faster than it had been going. It's been a good fifteen minutes and all she's been focusing on is the questions and his warm hand in hers, instead of the fact they're going to be stuck in this car for quite some time.

"Where do you want to go most in the world?"

"Well," she says, taking a deep breath. "That's a deep question."

He smiles at her. "Not against the rules as long as it's not about the surprise." He reminds her. Nick flashes her one of those grins of his that tells her that he knows exactly what he's doing. She sighs. He's using this game as a genuine way to get to know her, the same way he's always been keen to (the same reason they'd been fighting when she'd accosted him in her living room). Right, there's nothing much that she can do about it now but answer.

"I don't know," she says honestly with a shrug of her shoulders. She notes that his hand has tightened slightly around hers, and the gesture comforts her (when she didn't even know she needed it). "I've never really thought about it. Where could I go?"

Nick lets out an aghast groan and throws his head back in false horror. "Oh, love," he says, as though she's just blasphemed. His expression immediately sobers and she knows he's completely serious when he says, "I could take you anywhere."

The words make her heart set at a pace that she wasn't sure was possible. Because is her heart beating? Not really. It can't be because she's dead, and she doesn't have a pulse, and she doesn't have to breathe. But whatever it is, his words have started a thrumming in her chest that doesn't want to stop. She squeezes his hand tightly and he turns to look at her, his face lightening up with a boyish grin.

"Like where?" she asks.

He responds immediately. "Any of the continents, any country love," he promises her. He expands before she has to ask. "Paris, Rome, London. Anywhere you like." He quirks a brow as his smile widens. "Tokyo?" he offers finally, making her giggle.

Caroline takes in the enormity of what he's offering, thinking to one of the first places he mentioned. "I've always wanted to go to Paris," she admits.

He grins. "I'll take you," he promises and she knows that he will. (Well, if everything goes well that is.)

It's her turn to ask a question now, and she decides to have a little bit of fun with this one. "What's your idea of a perfect girl?" She asks. Caroline narrows her eyes at him, watching him with a badly concealed smirk. He has only one way to answer this correctly and he grins at her when he sees her watching him.

"Well," he begins slowly. "She's a small town girl, who's too worried about her friends to think about herself. She likes my accent and playing with my hair, and she looks terribly sexy when she bites her lip."

Caroline only then notices that she's biting her lip. Her smile widens as she watches him, and he continues.

"Her favourite colour is purple, and she's never seen the Godfather," he pauses slightly, to give her a meaningful look. So he caught that she hadn't seen it, did he? There is a slight smirk for a moment before he is serious again. The weight of his gaze tells her exactly how honest he's being with his words, and when he turns to look at her she feels her chest get light. His attention is entirely focused on her (but at least he has the presence of mind to slow the car down a little).

"And she's willing to let me give her the world."

Caroline contemplates this. She is. She's willing to let him give her everything, and more importantly, she's ready to give him everything in return.

.:.

**A/N: **I'm sure you folks have realised that this is really just a filler chapter, before they arrive at their final destination (which I'm trying to keep a secret from you lot as well). Does anyone want to guess where they're heading?

Again, I got an AMAZING response for the last chapter. It's like every time I update, more and more people come across this fic and decide to stroke my ego by teling me how much they like it.

So, KEEP IT UP. I'm LOVING it guys. As everyone knows, any writer is a narcissist at heart, and this heart is _breaking_ from your enthusiasm. Don't drop the reviews just because it's a filler. Tell me what you thought of their car games, and their conversations and the few canon lines that I slipped in (because the canon dialogue is just TOO amazing for me to leave out entirely).

Also, again, a big thanks to this fic's new beta, Katty, who's been really helping make this fic less of a mess. ;)


	8. now our bodies are the guilty ones

**A/N: **If you recognise anything in this fic, then it doesn't belong to me. I only possess a student bus pass and the Hamish and Andy podcast... which is free. Please don't sure me.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: THE SMUT IS BACK, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THE SMUT. HAS. RETURNED.

Rating has been raised to M

Warning Klaus's D

(updated: 1/03/2013)

.:.

"_Now our bodies are the guilty ones,"_

.:.

She's is New York.

Caroline Forbes is _in _New York.

_New York City. _

It's amazing. It's taken roughly eight hours (what with rest stops and toll stations) to get to the edge of the city from Virginia, and neither of them are particularly keen to spend any more time in the traffic of Manhattan Island. They end up parking on the opposite side of the Hudson River in Jersey City, happy to run the rest of the way in. Caroline is a bit unsure about the whole river, but he assures her that the confined space of the tunnel that runs beneath it won't be a problem for them.

Nick has got only one bag with him (a sleek black thing that he hasn't even fully filled) so Caroline's larger, rolling bag is more of a problem. But, what the hell? They're vampires.

Nick has planned everything, she finds out quickly, as he leads her to a hotel near Central Park, close to the shopping district of the Upper East Side. It takes the two of them about fifteen minutes to span that length of the island, and the bags pose no problem.

But, even if they've managed to avoid another hour or two of traffic, it's still late when they arrive. They've been driving all day, after all, and they hadn't left _that_ early. The sun is just beginning to set as they run, and Caroline is feeling hungry (for both types of food she ingests these days). Hopefully Nick brought some blood with him.

Caroline feels awkward whenever she brings up the subject of drinking. It's kind of like she's back in high school – something she doesn't feel when around Nick, even when they do her homework together – and she's making fun of some ninth grader for not drinking, or for taking a vow of purity. Only this time, she's the one that's not doing what everyone else does. There's nothing to be ashamed of in her un-life choice—if she doesn't want to kill people, then she won't—but still, when she tells Nick and he accepts it, she feels that this might mean something. He can't be secretly horrible if he doesn't mind that she doesn't like to kill.

Nick doesn't drink from the bag; he has told her this already. (It was a while back when they had this conversation so Caroline's has had time to really digest that bit of information). He drinks from humans, and yes, he's admitted, sometimes they die. It's not a comforting thought by any means, but Nick has assured her that he usually just takes some and then compels them to forget. He was a monster in the early days, he says, but these days he's sort of lost the thrill of killing—unless it has a purpose. (Thinking about what that purpose could be sends shivers rolling across her skin).

But he has no qualms about her lifestyle or her eating habits. He's even happy to go with her on her monthly trips to the blood bank. He's been once with her now, and he'd actually grinned the entire way through, saying it was exhilarating to be doing something so simple.

She asks him if he's brought any blood bags and he looks at her dejectedly. "Do you think I'm really that incapable?" he asks her, jokingly.

She grins at him, and loops her arm through his.

Caroline is impressed by the room that they're staying in. She can't even begin to describe how she feels about the huge city that she'd never consider she'd ever see, before.

It's large, and for the most part, painted in white, light colours. There is a large glass door to the side of the room, which opens to a small balcony. They're about twenty floors up in this building—which, when compared to the rest of the skyscrapers that Caroline saw on their run in—is really kind of measly. There is a bathroom (with a large bathtub and a shower and little designed towels) to the left of the entrance. Caroline also notes with a smile that there is only one bed, and Nick apparently expects to share.

He notes her expression and frowns a little. "I'm sorry I didn't ask," he says slowly. "I don't expect anything from you—I can take the couch if you like?" He offers, but when Caroline glances at the 'couch', she realises that it's really more of an armchair and there's no way he'd be able to sleep on it. Not that she even really considers that an option. She likes the idea of sharing a bed with him (whether or not that entails other activities, she doesn't mind).

"It's only a small room," Nick says with a slight shrug. "I thought you'd like to spend more time out seeing the city."

He smiles a small, nervous smile and it brings a swell of emotion inside Caroline. He's done all this for her, and he's still worried that it isn't enough? She's in front of him in seconds, cupping his cheeks and pulling him into a sweet kiss. It's short, but it's as brilliant as all the other kisses that she shares with him. When she pulls back, he looks much more impressed with himself, and she giggles.

"I love it." She tells him seriously, making sure that he's looking her right in the eye. "Thank you, so much."

He grins, and licks his lips quickly. "Don't thank me yet, sweetheart," he tells her. "You've still got a city to see."

.:.

He gives her a couple of minutes to change before pulling her out of the hotel again. She's had a blood bag, which means that her thirst is quenched for now, but he hasn't. He didn't bring enough from her stash for them to share, he tells her. So if she wants to split them, she'll be required to feed the normal way before they return home.

Caroline knows that just the thought of hurting another person upsets her, and Nick says that he drinks these days without making them feel too much, so she reluctantly agrees that he should eat while they're out.

"So," he says, enthusiastic like a young boy, "where would you like to go first?"

Times Square is the obvious answer. But she's American enough to think that she doesn't have to go to the main tourist destination because, well, New York City is in America, and she could be a real New Yorker because she's an American, right? He chuckles when she asks him this and she lets out an indignant huff. This only makes his smile widen.

"Broadway?" he offers, "Are you the type of girl who likes Broadway?"

She is, and she knows it. It's never really been a dream of hers to get up on the stage and perform, but she likes musicals and she likes the idea of Broadway—something that people come from all over the world to see—being just at her fingertips. Plus, she's in New York City. And it's _Broadway_. How could she say no?

Since Central Park is fairly close to their hotel (Caroline could see the trees from their balcony), they decide to bypass most of the busy streets and take the scenic route. It's a picturesque walk, what with the setting sun basking everything in warm light. They hold hands as they amble by the changed, autumn trees and Caroline smiles to herself every time someone looks at them like they're one of _those_ annoying couples. It's almost cliché how perfect and romantic the walk is, but Caroline doesn't care as she leans on the man who brought her here.

She's so glad she came.

.:.

It's almost a jarring experience once they leave Central Park and rejoin the multitude of people making their way through the bustling streets of Manhattan Island.

As she walks through the crowded streets with him, she wonders who else is holding up this charade. How many vampires is she walking with right now? She tries to do that thing that Nick showed her—to listen to the heart beats and the sounds that only come from humans, but she fails. There are so many people here who are human, and so many other extraneous noises as well, that the sounds come from all around her and she flinches from the barrage of noise before she tunes them out again.

Nick shoots her a puzzled look, so she explains.

He smirks. "I can tell you, if you like." He offers.

Caroline frowns. "Isn't it too loud?"

He chuckles. "I've been doing it for a lot longer than you, Caroline." He tells her. She's reminded that she still hasn't really asked him exactly how old he is. She doesn't want to, though. It feels as though it's a rather personal question, even though she's not really sure why.

She grins at him. "Fine," she accepts his offer. "How many vampires are we walking with?"

He answers instantaneously.

"Eight."

Caroline's head jerks back in surprise as she hears it. No. She'd only really expected a couple of them—maybe one or two tops. Not that many. Really? On this street alone?

"Where?" she demands in response, making him smile.

He explains with that smile on his face the whole time. Two are business men to her left, who both seem to know each other and are happy to chat. Another is an older woman, who looks old enough to have children, but isn't accompanied by any. Three are young girls, who are walking around in a group on the opposite side of the street, cackling and giggling to each other about some film they've just seen. The final two are a couple, just like Caroline and Nick, only they're a little older, and must have known each other for a great amount of time, given their obvious intimacy.

The revelation really puts Caroline on the back foot. She'd never thought for a moment that there could be so many! And with the rest of the people—the humans—that were on the same street. How would they feel if they knew that there were _ten_ vampires in their midst? It was unnerving to say the least.

"How many streets are there in New York?" she asks quickly.

Nick doesn't know but he makes an estimate. It's a large number, obviously, and Caroline thinks, if there are ten vampires to every street, how is it that no one knows of their existence?

It seems Nick had miscalculated the time it would take to reach their destination, so they have to run the rest of the way. Their conversation has thrown Caroline for a loop, and as such, she is unable to take any of her surroundings in as they whiz by. Night has finally overtaken the setting sun when they reach the Theatre District, and by the time they actually make it to the musical they are going to see (Phantom of the Opera—one that Caroline hasn't ever seen, but Nick is sure she'll enjoy) her head is spinning slightly, and she's glad for the seat.

.:.

After the musical, Caroline has managed to forget about the vampires that are apparently _everywhere_ in this city, and instead has talked Nick into waiting with her to get autographs from the famous people who are attending the show tonight. The line that they're in, however, is long and means that they'll probably have to wait a while to meet the celebrities. Caroline manages to placate Nick for a while, sending him towards the bright lights of Time's Square (she hadn't realized it was so close) to get food for them while they wait, but when he returns, the task proves more difficult. It appears that Nick is keen to make the time move faster.

"I could just compel a security guard," he suggests. "They'd let us in, out—it'd be done with."

Caroline hits him lightly on the arm. "Nick," she says in a shrill voice, that she's trying to keep quiet. "We're not going to compel people." She's never had a soft spot for compulsion—now well aware of the ordeal she went through at the hands of the eldest Salvatore brother.

Nick frowns. "Why not?"

Caroline doesn't quite understand how it is that _he _doesn't understand. "Because," she says as though it's obvious (because it really, really is). "It's wrong. We'd be forcing them to break the rules."

Nick shrugs. "We could compel them to forget that they broke the rules?" he suggests.

Caroline rolls her eyes and fixes him with a dry look. In the end, he gives up and decides he's happy to wait with her. He's brought them some nachos from a nearby vendor that she feels are exactly what she's been craving all evening. If the speed with which he eats them is any indication, he's also been thinking about the meal as well. But he hasn't had anything to drink, so it must be far worse for him.

Still, Caroline refuses to leave her post in line.

It takes a further three hours, but by the end of the wait she's sitting smug, the proud possessor of a photo with Darren Criss and Alan Rickman's autograph. There was another guy that a lot of other people went crazy for (she doesn't know why, he was wearing plaid pants and had weird hair) so she got his autograph as well. Still, if she is proud of herself for staying, Nick is sure as hell glad that they're out of there.

He glances at his watch as he ushers her off of Broadway and away from the beckoning beacon of light that is Time's Square (Caroline figures, they're already a few blocks away from it, why not see it?), and from any other distractions. "Come on," he urges her, his hands on her waist as he directs her in the opposite direction. "We've still got time."

Caroline frowns, placing her spoils of war into her purse. "For what?" she asks, "it's, like, midnight."

Nick grins. "This is the city that never sleeps, sweetheart. I'm going to show you all of it."

Following that sentence, Caroline is a bit apprehensive. It's pretty late (for a small town girl like her, right?) and she's not sure that she's got the energy to run across all of Manhattan. Besides, if they're running, won't she miss it all anyway? But he's adamant, and she relents, letting him pull her forward.

It turns out that there was no need to worry. Wherever they're going must be in walking distance, because Nick has no inclination to run. The walk is actually a nice change of pace from sitting and then standing in line for so long. But now that night has fallen, this city seems to have kicked into high gear – bombarding her vampire senses – so she needs to distract herself. Instead of focusing on all the outward stimuli, Caroline concentrates on talking about Erik and Christine and their tragic tale. She liked it, that's for sure, but she's not sure how she feels about the ending.

.:.

She'd been starting to enjoy their casual stroll, when he stops them both right out the front of their destination. Caroline is pleasantly surprised to find them at the entrance of the Empire State Building.

He doesn't stop her from talking as they enter the base of the iconic building, but Caroline does anyway. After all, it would seem a little crazy to continue talking while your boyfriend has placed you in line so he can scamper off to get tickets. Instead, she takes the time to bask in the splendour of this grand entryway. She marvels in the fact that it looks as if it was completed just yesterday.

Nick chuckles at her awestruck expression when he returns with their tickets. Caroline almost pouts at that, but he is already encouraging her to continue on where their conversation left off. It seems Nick is happy to listen to her discuss the musical as they make their way towards another, different line – where personnel are taking ticket stubs and checking bags. He seems quite amused at her passionate analysis of the production, so he's happy to participate and even ask her questions when she starts getting going again.

"What was your favourite part?" he asks her after they both cleared security, swinging an arm around her waist as they come to a stop in a long hallway just outside the foyer, and pulling her close to him. "You must have one?"

Caroline isn't so enthusiastic that she hasn't noticed the warm feel of fingers on her skin—where her shirt has ridden up slightly—but the question is something she finds herself having to focus on. "You know?" she says loudly. "I actually can't decide between the final scene where he kidnaps her, or the scene when they meet."

In fact, there are hundreds of other potential favourite parts, but she can't really figure them all. Naming them would really just be a retelling of the entire musical. Besides, those must be two of the top ones, if they're stuck so closely in her head.

The doors to the elevator ping and the line shuffles forward. There are only about eight other people keen to head up to the top, half of that number joining them with the elevator operator. It looks like it's late enough for the midnight goers to have come and gone. Caroline can't help but smirk slightly as she and Nick cram into the lift with the rest of the patrons. She's pressed slightly against Nick, breathing his air, and he's watching her with hooded eyes that are entirely inappropriate for such a crowded elevator.

The trip up is silent and awkward, as every elevator ride is. It strikes Caroline, who's only been in a lift that goes about twenty stories in her life, exactly how long the trip is, comparatively. When the 'ping' finally sounds again, everyone shares an exhaled breath of relief, and the group spills out of the small space.

Caroline starts to follow the rest of the group, but stops when Nick takes her hand. Her confusion must be evident on her face and he grins at her almost mischievously.

"I have a better idea," he explains as he leads her away from the chill of the open air and what appears to be remanets of music coming from the platform. She doesn't understand, but trusts Nick enough to follow him without protest. Turning a corner, they're greeted with another set of elevators – and that's when Caroline remembers that they are _two_ observation floors.

There is no line here, so it takes no time at all for them to be allowed onto the elevator (after they show the guard that they've paid to see both floors by him checking their tickets). It's just them and the operator on this ride, but the two vampires still huddle close together. This ride is so much more noticeably shorter than the one previous, and less crammed, that there's no rush to exit through the doors.

There are some people already up here, so Nick and Caroline instantly shift away to find their own space. Nick leads her to a window where she can see how high they are (a height that Caroline wonders about. Would a fall from up here kill a vampire? Whatever the answer, she's not keen to find out). He shows her New York, pointing out all the important places that you can see from their height. The view is breathtaking, even more so at night, the city so beautifully alit.

It's colder up here than she thought an enclosed space could be, she notes, and while that doesn't exactly bother her as much as it might've when she was human, it's a good excuse to snuggle. She fits herself between his arms, her back to his chest, inhaling his scent and loving the feel of his presence all around her.

"What's that?" she asks, pointing to an obscure building. He seems to know exactly what everything is and she's keen to catch him out. This time, though, he hesitates.

"I'll go ask," he says. Before she can protest and tell him that it doesn't matter, he's gone, standing next to the security guard and asking. When he returns, Caroline is grateful that he takes her up in his arms again.

They stay like that for a while, just embracing each other. He is wearing a largish black jacket—the same one he'd worn to their first 'date' she notices—and the warm cotton on her bare arms, as well as the sheer smell of him, makes her feel more comfortable than she has in a long time.

It's only when she moves to see the city from another viewpoint that Caroline looks around and realises that everyone else has gone.

"What?" she says suddenly, moving away from him to look around the platform. Sure enough, everyone else has seemingly gone, leaving them behind. "Where've they—?" She doesn't need to finish asking the question to know what he's done. He'd obviously known that the building she'd asked about was unimportant, and had taken the opportunity to compel the guard.

She looks at him reproachfully, and he has the decency to look a little guilty before he shrugs his shoulders. "He won't even remember me, sweetheart," he reassures her. "I just asked for us to have a little alone time up here." He says sweetly.

The words melt her and she sighs. "Fine," she relents, moving over to him and leaning into his body when he lifts an arm. "What shall we do?"

Nick shrugs. "Tell me more about your musical." He suggests, and the sentence brings a wide smile to her face.

They're by themself, she realises with a grin. She'd be hoping for some privacy (well, as much as a national landmark with security cameras can offer them). She's not about to give the security guys a free show or anything, but she's comfortable pulling him to face her as she loops her hands around his neck. She presses a sweet kiss to his lips, smiling at him.

"Thank you for this," she says earnestly, her voice quiet now. "It's amazing."

He is solemn with her for a moment, his face still as he practically stares into her soul. Nick then frowns. "Why the kidnapping scene?" he asks. She is confused for a moment before he clarifies. "Why is it one of your favourite scenes?"

Caroline shrugs and sighs, not moving her hands from his neck. He just wants to know more of her, she supposes. "Sure, it's horrible that he's doing that to her," she says simply. "But there's something about the way that he does it that's just so passionate." As she says the word, her eyes flick up to meet his and there is a moment between them.

It moves on quickly. Then, for a second, she glimpses this mysterious smirk before she feels her legs being swept out from under her. She shrieks and holds tighter to his neck (even though, come on, she's a vampire. What's little tumble going to do to her?). It's only after this instinctual reaction that she realises that he's the one who's scooped her up off the ground, and his holding her in his arms.

"Well, my dear. If you want passion..." He drawls. Then he's pressing his lips softly to hers. He leans them over and dips her expertly in a sure hold. They're in one of the few places to have hardly any artificial light – causing the glow from the moon and stars, and the lights from the buildings below to fall on their bodies. There's an intimacy in this enclosed space that really sets the mood, and she suddenly feels as though she's in a film. He straightens them up without putting her down, and Caroline feels like he must have planned it. _Somehow._ He pulls back for a moment before laying one last soft kiss to her lips, and smiling at her.

He presses a final sweet kiss to her forehead for a moment, before placing her down. He pulls her hand around the corner, towards the elevator, ready to head back down. He pulls a card from his pocket—obviously one that he's taken from the security guard. There's something about the movement, the sweetness and the loveliness of the moment that makes Caroline's insides light up. She lets out a giggle at the feeling, and he pauses in his action of taking them down stairs again. He frowns as he turns to look at her. "What's so f—?"

That's all he gets out because in that moment, she's on him. She presses him back against the closed elevator doors, careful not to use too much force because, well, this is the _Empire State Building_ and she doesn't want a national crime on her hands. Instead, she kisses him thoroughly.

He's got surprisingly quick reflexes even for a vampire, and his hands are on her instantly. His fingers caress her skin gently, pushing her shirt further up at the hem. She's clutching at his shirt _again. _There's something about being able to hold onto him that makes her want to keep him forever.

"What brought this on?" he has the time to gasp in the second she pulls back before her mouth is on his again.

There is a pause as they kiss, hands flying, before she responds. When she pulls away to speak, he is too impatient to wait, and instead moves straight to her neck. "We're in New York," she struggles to verbalise as his lips distract her by moving to the skin behind her ear. "_You _brought me to _New York._"

That seems to be good enough for him, and she certainly notes the proud smile that is suddenly on his face. He probably feels better about this trip now, knowing exactly where it's going. But he sobers for a moment, stilling. She follows his lead and dives for his neck, kissing and sucking, while her hands map out the panes of his stomach. He lets out a moan for a minute, before he grabs her hands and stills her as well.

"We're in the Empire State Building," he says breathlessly.

She shrugs but pulls away from him. To her relief, he looks distinctly upset at their sudden lack of contact, but she quickly wipes that look off her face. She grabs his hand and pulls him around to the alcove by the fire escape, where only one camera can see them. Then, she pulls his jacket off his shoulders, and throws it over the camera.

She has time to catch the thoroughly impressed look on his face before she's kissing him again. It's taken them too long to get to this, she thinks, and it's been too long since she's been so close to a person. She decides that the shirt needs to go, in favour of better things. Similar to the day that they'd spent on her bed, she reaches for the hem of his shirt and is pulling it up before he can fully lift his arms. Once he has, though, the garment is gone and forgotten—joined by her shirt seconds later.

He pulls back quickly. "You're stunning," he breathes, looking right into her eyes.

It's a breath of fresh air. His compliment does what his statement didn't, and reminds her that they are standing on top of the Empire State Building, about to do something that is just so not cool. If the cameras catch them, it would be on the news channels all over the country – probably.

Ah, screw it.

She pulls his face to hers again, grinning into the kiss as he takes the movement to mean that she's definitely okay with what they're doing. He moves them backwards, taking control of the moment, and now she is the one who's pressed between a cold wall and a warm body.

If Caroline's heart still pumped, it would be going wild right now, she thinks. She doesn't really know much about the mechanics of a vampire's body, but she knows that she's finding it difficult to breath in unnecessary air and her chest feels light. He kisses his way down her jaw line, slipping to her neck and finally, sucking on her collarbone. Caroline whimpers a noise that brings Nick to grunt slightly. Her lips slip open, and his tongue invades her mouth as his thigh slips between her legs. He rubs against her, bringing her to moan almost against her will.

Errantly, she wonders if the security cameras on this building pick up sound.

She feels as though she's on fire. A wave of electricity sparks within her, beginning and ending at her core. She _is _one fire. She reaches out and grasps his neck, pulling him closer so that she can reach his neck. She sucks on where his pulse should have beat, and the move brings him to growl. She makes an inarticulate noise when Nick pushes closer.

She's wanted this. She doesn't care where they were, Christ. She wouldn't even mind if there were still people around at this point. (Okay, well, she probably would. But shut up). She feels intoxicated by the smell of him and the feel of him. Her hand is latched into his hair as she pulls his head back to her mouth. They both moan at the kiss, more heated and intense than any other they've shared. He pulls her further up against the wall he's got her on, and she feels him pressing against her, and sighs loudly. He is so close that she can feel his warmth in almost every part of her.

Not enough in some places thought.

"Christ, sweetheart," Nick moans, his accent stronger in this moment. "I need you." The words send another jolt of electricity through her. Heat rolls through her, stoking the fire that is burning at the junction between her legs. Before she can react, Nick has grasped her bra at its clasp and pulled, freeing Caroline to the night. There is no embarrassment, just bliss as Nick's mouth hungrily kisses her right breast, his hands around her waist. All Caroline can do for a moment is moan and close her eyes, grasping at his neck and shoulders with her shaking hands. But she recovers quickly, arching her hips into his and grinding, leading him to groan throatily and pause a moment in his actions.

It is different than it has ever been before. She doesn't want to think about Tyler at this point (or even Matt, even if they never got his far), but it's all happening so fast and she can't help but liken it to her past experiences. Tyler has been hasty and urgent, where Nick is calm and happy to please her. She's not saying that Tyler didn't please her but it was never like this.

"_Oh!"_ she exclaims when Nick bites down gently on her. His lips suck and never stop moving. His hands move from her waist now, and he runs his fingers across the top of her jeans.

She knows just from the facts going on that this won't be long or drawn out. For one, the ground that they're standing on is kind of gross, and they're both agile enough for this to work standing up. But second, this is the passionate moment she was talking about a couple of minutes ago.

And with Nick, it felt right.

He presses into her again, and she lets out a moan. Oh, _so _right.

His lithe fingers pop the button on her jeans easily, and his hand slips inside between her thighs. She inhales sharply before letting out another moan, as his fingers find exactly the right place. The feelings overwhelm her, and she pauses for a moment, just to take in all the sensations.

"God, love," he groans into her shoulder. "You're so wet." His index finger slides between her folds—no mean feat in the jeans she's wearing—and she shakes a little.

"Of course I am, you idiot," she replies, and he chuckles.

_He chuckles._

The sound is way more erotic than she'd ever thought a laugh could be and she finds her own hand grasping for his pants. He lets her down for a minute, so that she's standing on her own two (unstable) feet. His finger is still there, circling, stroking, rubbing; bringing her close to the highest she's ever been (ironic, considering where they're standing).

But it's not enough, it's not nearly enough and when she gets there, she wants it to be with him inside of her.

She whimpers slightly, reaching her own hands down and pulling at his jeans. She makes quick work of the button (less graceful than him, she just snaps the offending metal piece off) and then she's reaching inside his pants and he's tensing slightly, breathing heavily.

She squeezes him once and he lets out a guttural groan before she lets him go and pushes at his jeans and boxers and shimmies out of her own jeans. His hand is still in her panties, and the move presses his hand into her and she exhales sharply, before shaking her head.

"No, no," she breathes desperately. "I want _you._" And that's all he needs to rip her panties from her body and push her higher up on the wall. She wraps her legs around his waist as she sinks onto him, and for a moment they both freeze, identical looks of ecstasy on their faces. She gasps softly, as he exhales loudly, letting out a soft groan as she engulfs him.

Caroline flushes as Nick starts moving again, reaching up to the wall behind her to try and find something to hold onto. She finds nothing, and settles with resting her hands on his shoulders and holding on. She can feel the muscles of his arms rippling as he moves, and it only makes the moment better. (Which is a mean feat, she thinks as he pushes into her and she feels her legs shake).

Nick pauses, noting her bare back as it rubs against the concrete, but he is only still for a second, before she's urging him to start again. With a grunt, he starts to thrust faster into her, and Caroline thinks for a moment she might pass out.

Caroline gasps into Nick's shoulder, tugging on his hair with one hand while the other tightens around his shoulder. She's moving her hips to meet his thrusts, stoking the blue hot flame inside of her. Caroline's back rubbed against the concrete, but she could barely feel it. She certainly pays it no conscious mind. She can't help herself now, sounds streaming from her mouth as he moves. Groans and moans and whimpers and cries that surely all of New York can hear.

She can feel it coming. The flame is getting hotter and hotter, and the work of maintaining this position is well worth it. Their pace quickens further, and Caroline focuses on the noises coming from Nick's throat, the ones of pure bliss as he finally comes undone within her. Caroline feels the flame inside her set the rest of her alight and finally, it comes to a mount. She stiffens as the blaze rages through her, head to toe. She's probably swearing but she can't quite tell. Her insides tighten and release, bringing with them waves of wetness, and she buries her head in his neck and bites, giving a final noise of bliss.

He is still moving slightly, helping her ride out the orgasm, even though he is spent. He looks as exhausted as she feels, but there is another look in his eyes that tells her that it was equally as good for him. Still, she can't help it when the doubt seeps in—

"Don't," he tells her suddenly. "Don't even think it, sweetheart. You're brilliant."

.:.

**A/N: **(**EDIT: **As of **March 1, 2013**, you may feel extremely happy to ignore this (or you may head over to my Tumblr to send hate for shitty writing, but you'd be justified...) but I'll leave the link up if, for some reason, any of your need it.

Who am I kidding I just want people to see my Tumblr, it has Jesse Eisenberg on it and I love him).


	9. fall in silence from the sky

**A/N: **I don't own anything you recognise. Unless it's a 'One Direction' CD, and a huge, beautiful dog called Roly. Neither of which any of you can have.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: My brilliant beta, Katty has decided that she would prefer it if from now on, any notes that you guys have on the editing, grammar critiquing process should be brought up with her. Her fanfiction username is _Angel of the Fallen Starts_, so just PM her. On the other hand, ideas and thoughts about what you want to see and how you feel about where the fic is going, can come straight to me. In reviews. You are all lovely.

.:.

"_Fall in silence from the sky,"_

.:.

Caroline wakes up in his arms and thinks it might be the best feeling she's ever had. Certainly it's one of the greatest mornings. She hasn't had to do an awkward dash in the middle of the night, and she hasn't been vervain-ed and sent to her Dad's torture chamber. But better than that, Nick's arms are around her and his smell is all over her and his chest is rising and falling as her pillow.

When she stirs, he wakes too, his eyes opening wide and then squinting, as he lifts his free hand (the one that isn't wrapped around her waist) to press at his temple. "What time is it?" he asks groggily.

Caroline doesn't have the slightest clue, but she lifts her head to go investigate as well. Apparently that is the point that he notices where they are and who he's with, because as soon as he sees her his eyes fall serious, he stops moving, tightens his grasp on her and pulls her back towards him. She flops onto his chest and he grins up at her.

"Good morning," he says pleasantly, with a sleepy smirk on his face. "Did you dream well?"

She doesn't really know what that means, but she smiles anyway. It's a cute question. Did she dream well? She doesn't know, really. But there is a lovely feeling in her stomach and a calm feeling in her head that tells her that her dreams were sweet. She tells him this, and it makes him smile. "What about you?" she asks, crossing her hands on his chest and resting her chin on them. He looks absolutely glorious in the morning sun, she notes.

He sighs, lifting his head and settling his free arm under it. His other hand is softly stroking her bare back—while they'd both been happy to just sleep when they'd arrived back in their room, neither of them had any qualms baring themselves to sleep more comfortably. (Sides, Caroline loved sleeping without pyjamas—and what was better than having a naked hottie—who was also perfect—beside her?) He smiles as he lets his head lean back, looking up the ceiling. "Nothing's more pleasant than waking up with you." He murmurs.

Obviously, this is exactly what Caroline wants to hear. It makes her smile grandly, and her finger that has been errantly drawing pictures on his bare chest pauses. "You're quite a softie," she tells him, with a teasing smile. Another of his odd looks crosses his face, and he suddenly looks troubled. His muscles tense and he swallows harshly. Caroline can tell this time that she might have said the wrong thing. He is a big bad vampire, after all. So she pulls herself up slightly, and gives him a quick kiss. "But that's why I like you." She reassures him.

The look on his face fades a little, but Caroline is worried to note that it doesn't vanish entirely. Instead, he takes a deep breath, presses a similar kiss to her lips, and pulls back. "Shall we go see the rest of this city?" he asks her, planting a smile on his face.

Caroline is happy to forget the look on his face and nods, grinning, pushing away from him and getting up. She takes a minute to right the bed sheets that he's happy to just leave, before she moves to her clothes. She pulls on a bra (and some new panties, because apparently her pair from last night were beyond repair), then she looks to Nick for more information. "Where are we going today?" she asks quickly.

She doesn't need a verbal response. Instead, the smirk on his face tells her all she needs to know. She puts on a pair of designer jeans, a cute singlet and a black blazer jacket on, with heels and frowns at him.

He's her perfect man, but why does he have to like so many surprises?

.:.

They go shopping in the Upper East Side. It makes Caroline feel as though she's Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl, and Nick is her Chuck Bass (sure, there are some character differences, but Nick is hot enough to be her Ed Westwick, isn't he? The answer's easily yes). She's glad that she's wearing the right thing though—her clothes (probably one of her more expensive ensembles) make her feel right at home in the streets of the more elite New Yorkers. She just kind of assumes that they'll all act as high and mighty as the characters on Gossip Girl. When she mentions it to Nick, however, he chuckles.

Maybe they're not _that _bad.

Still, they go to all the shops that she's heard of and she's happy to buy herself things with the few measly dollars that have added up quite nicely. She's also happy to let him buy her things when her offers. He's not buying her, he promises. "I just want you to be happy," he says instead. "And I have the means to do it any way you'd like."

Of course, when he says that it makes her flush slightly, and she shyly looks away.

The retailers who try to sell her things look at them the same way other people have been: like they're a couple that's too happy for their own good. The jealousy is obvious—she can almost smell it—and it's not of who they are with, but of what they have together. They're walking around, hand in hand, smiling at everything that they see. Caroline knows that if she'd been the witness and someone else had been the couple, she'd have her very best glare whipped out and ready.

Instead, she tightens her grip on his hand as they stroll through the streets. She's taken a little off guard when they turn left quickly, and move into one of the larger stores on the street (Madison Avenue, if she's remembering correctly. New York is _complicated_).

It also happens to be a lingerie store.

The grin on Nick's face could very well light _rooms_ it's so bright, and even though Caroline rolls her eyes when she sees it, she can't help but smile at his antics. "You are such a stereotype," she says.

He holds out his hand and gestures to the whole shop as though it's a grand palace. "Welcome, sweetheart," he says grandly. "To _Agent Provocateur_."

She doesn't really mind looking in the shop. He tells her that it's a store that imports a lot of their stock from overseas (Britain, he says, and she wonders if that's why it holds its appeal for him—you know, aside from the lingerie). She likes it—she has just enough money left to buy herself one of the beautiful sets here. Besides, she likes shopping in a lingerie shop with her enthusiastic boyfriend.

It makes her feel normal.

She picks some stuff out, and happily lets him help, before heading back to the change rooms. She can feel her phone vibrate in her pocket, just as the door closes behind her, and she pauses for a moment to pull it out.

It's Elena. Of course it's Elena.

Caroline had pulled her phone out as they'd left the hotel that morning, knowing that her mother wouldn't approve at all of her keeping out of contact while she's out of town. She hasn't talked to Elena since the text that advised her to stay in Mystic Falls, so Caroline begrudgingly answers the phone.

"Hello?"

The relief in Elena's voice is evident. "Care," she says, exhaling obviously. Caroline can pick up the sound of Damon grumbling in the background. Great, so Elena's got the Salvatore's there for some reason. It must be bad news. "I was so worried about you." Elena gushes.

Caroline frowns as she undoes her jeans with one hand. She shimmies out of them and reaches for the blue set that she had chosen. "I told you I was going out of town." She says with a frown.

There's a pause on the other end of the line. "And I told you I didn't think it was a good idea." She says slowly.

Caroline sighs, and shrugs as she manages to pull one arm out of her sleeve. "I'm a big girl, Elena," she says, because it's obvious. "I'm also a _vampire,_ so you don't need to worry about me."

She whispers the word vampire just in case a clerk or one of the other customers in the stalls next to her happens to be listening. They're not, she thinks, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

"We have _news," _Elena says, ignoring what Caroline has said and changing the subject. "When do you get back?"

Caroline thinks to their timetable. "I should be driving back on Saturday," she says, as she switches hands to hold the phone and shrugs out the rest of her blazer and shirt. "So you can see me on Monday at school."

Elena hums. "That's not soon enough," she says. "We have to meet on Sunday. Do you think you can come by the boarding house?"

Caroline thinks to the one day she's been planning to spend just lounging around her house, and decides that no, her day off is too important. She needs at least one Caroline day each month to keep to herself.

"No," she says. "Can't you just tell me what's so important on the phone?"

There is a pause. She can hear Elena move away from the phone and ask if it's cool to talk on the phone. Wow, how dramatic their lives have become. They're not being monitored by the CIA, she thinks. Just by a crazy hybrid. Still, it's not like Klaus could tap phones.

She thinks.

Elena returns to the phone to tell her that Damon feels the same way about the phone conversation as Caroline does. It's fine, because Klaus may be a maniac, but he's never given any indication that he's incredibly tech savvy.

"Okay," Elena says in a hushed voice.

Caroline pauses in her act of pulling on the expensive bra—this is a bit intense, isn't it? But then Elena lets the silence drop and continues.

"Katherine has found Mikael." She says and Caroline stops. Okay, she thinks, _that_ is big news. That isn't something she can just brush off because she's away in New York with her fabulous new boyfriend.

"Is he there?" she demands instantly.

She can practically feel Elena shaking her head. "No," she says, in the same hushed voice. "But Katherine called Damon and told us that they're on the way. They're going to stay hidden until we have a plan—which we think we've got."

Caroline doesn't waste time.

"What is it?" she asks.

"Caroline?" she hears a separate voice in the background. "How's it going in there?" It's Nick—obviously. She is trying underwear on for the moment, over her own underwear, by the way, which is in no way comfortable—nor does it look sexy at _all._ If it does look gross, he better lie to her, because this underwear is too uncomfortable to be all for her benefit. This is for him, and they both know it.

"Just taking a call," she says. "But it's almost done. I'll show it to you in a sec."

"Alright then love, I'll wait outside." She hears his footsteps moving. He seems to have gotten that she doesn't want him hearing what Elena has to say for the moment. She'll probably tell him in a minute, but now she wants to be the one who knows the plan.

"Who was that?" Elena asks.

"Nick," Caroline brushes her off. "What's the plan?" she asks, getting back to business.

Elena seems to remember herself and quickly lets her in on it. Caroline nods her head as she speaks, making mental notes to remember the key points: Homecoming. Mikeal. Doppelganger switch.

Easy. It's even kind of simple. If this works and they take down Klaus, she'll almost feel embarrassed _for _him.

She tells Elena this, and manages to get a laugh out of her. She can even hear Damon chuckle a little when Elena conveys her words to him. "Alright," Caroline finishes up. "I should probably get back to Nick."

"Have fun," Elena says warmly. "Come home safe."

Caroline feels herself grow warm. Sure, Elena can get annoying at times, what with her nagging and her whining—but it is times like these that Caroline remembers that all that only stems from her incurable need to help people. If anything, Elena is compassionate, and Caroline can't be angry with her for something that's so inherently good.

She hangs up with a warm smile on her face, before slipping the rest of the ensemble on. She takes a moment to look at herself in the mirror. It's baby blue (a colour that goes with her eyes, her hair and her complexion). The panties are comfortable and sleek (well, as far as she can tell—since the cotton of her own pair makes it hard to distinguish), but she finds her eyes drawn to the see-through camisole that's floating down from beneath the blue material that cups her breasts. Surely, he'll _love _this.

"Nick," she calls out.

No response, so she tries a little louder.

"_Nick!" _

He hears this time, and she can hear the door open and close as he enters the private room for trying things on (they can't have their patrons being seen in their underwear from the street now can they?) When she steps out from behind the door, his eyes visible widen and his smirk becomes a grin.

"Oh, _sweetheart_," he exclaims softly, moving for her.

She jumps out of his reach and holds out a warning finger. "Uh-uh," she says. "Nothing naughty in the lingerie," she warns him. "Otherwise I'll be banned, and I like to think that I'll come back here one day."

"I'll bring you every day," he says, his eyes roaming her body.

She feels her cheeks flush pink as she smiles at this. She fights the urge to cover herself up and instead moves back, to look at the other ones. "Hang on," she says. "I'll look at some of the other ones."

She closes the door behind her, and hears him move to sit on the neat little seat that they've provided for him. "I love this store," he sighs happily.

Caroline rolls her eyes, but when she looks at her reflection in the mirror, she's grinning.

"Is everything alright?" he suddenly asks her.

She frowns slightly. Of course she's alright. She's barely even had time to take anything off, let alone have trouble getting something back on. "What?" she asks.

"The phone call," he verifies for her. "Nothing's wrong, I hope?"

She smiles at his concern and shakes her head, before remembering that he can't see her. "Oh no," he reassures him, "it was just my friends. We've got a plan to get rid of Klaus."

She's already told him about Klaus. Her suspicions about why Nick arrived in town had been bad in the early days, and while she trusts him now, he's very aware of the reason it took a while. He's in the good books now, though, so she's happy to tell him the plan.

"So," she says enthusiastically. "It's going to go down at Ho—"

He cuts her off.

"Don't tell me sweetheart," he says with a sigh. "I wouldn't want you getting in trouble with your friends for spilling the beans."

Well, she thinks. That's lovely of him. He is an unknown vampire in town, after all. She knows that if Stefan or Damon caught wind of it, they won't be happy. She doesn't like to think what would happen if they found that she'd told a stranger (well, a stranger to _them_) their plan to ruin Klaus.

But she's happy to let the subject change, she thinks, as she pulls on the next little outfit. Klaus is something in Mystic Falls. Something that she can let her thoughts keep away from, at least, for the next couple of days.

She rights the strap on her shoulder.

"What do you think of this one?" she asks innocently, stepping out in a more risqué black set.

There is a pause. Then,

"I don't care that I'm eternally damned," he says, and she can hear the smirk on his tongue before she sees his face. "This is heaven."

She grins.

.:.

"Would you like to go get a bite of proper food?" he asks once she's managed to pull him from the lingerie store. In the end, she'd bought the blue set, while he'd insisted of buying the black (and the pink and red ones she also tried on). After all, he insists, they're as much for him as they are for her.

As he asks his question, she feels her stomach grumble. She's had enough blood (she had a bag that morning) but she's hungry for proper food now. So she nods her head, and lets him take her hand to pull her through the streets. They enter a pizza place apparently owned by a guy named 'Joe' and the taste of the pizza is enough to relax her again. She's just about finished when he excuses himself for a moment.

He doesn't return quickly, though, and that makes Caroline frown. She's finished off her pizza now, so she's happy to pay for her food, and then head out in to the street, the way that Nick has gone.

She finds him quickly.

He's in the alley way, sating the thirst that she's already taken care of.

She should have expected it though, shouldn't she? She hasn't seen him drink anything yet on their trip, and if she has been thirsty, she doesn't want to think about how thirsty he's been.

She doesn't have it in her to be jealous of the petite blonde that he's chosen. Because she knows what it's like to be that blonde—beaten and compelled to forget about it, used and abused. She turns her head, clenches her fists and closes her eyes. She doesn't want to see any of this.

He notices her presence immediately. He has managed to keep the blood from his face, in a sophisticated way that Caroline hasn't ever seen before. Even the place where he's bitten the girl is neat. It isn't bleeding profusely the way it would have if she'd been the one to bite. Instead, there is just a neat wound, that is only slightly dribbling the dark red elixir, where his teeth have sunk into her flesh.

"Sorry," he apologises. When he speaks, she can see that even if his face is clear, his teeth are stained slightly red. There isn't any shame on his face or regret, but he knows that this makes her uncomfortable and he seems to not want that.

She closes her eyes again—she can't remember when she opened them to look. She can't be angry with him for this. After all, the blonde girl isn't dead—in fact, she's smiling slightly, which makes Caroline feel dirty and disgusting. "Just," she says, trying to keep her voice even. "Can we please leave soon?" She asks.

He cleans up quickly, licking his teeth white again, and quickly compelling her to forget. He even presses a tissue from the girl's purse to her neck and urges her to go to a hospital. It doesn't make Caroline smile or anything, but it comforts her some to know that he isn't just disregarding this life.

But there's something in his eyes that tells her that he would have acted differently were she not present to bear witness.

The blonde girl is unstable for a minute. She's probably still got enough blood to walk around, but losing what he's taken from her can't be healthy. Caroline feels unnerved watching her. The girl's hair is straight, where Caroline's falls in gentle curls, but it's the same length and she's wearing her hair in a similar style. The resemblance makes Caroline's skin crawl.

They wait for a moment as the blonde girl departs, the silence engulfing them. He's watching her closely, probably so that he can try and understand how she really feels about this moment. It's not hard to guess that he'll figure it out. He's managed to do so with everything else that goes through her head.

This is the first moment that she's ever recognised him as an imperfect being. He kills people, she reminds herself. Maybe he's a little more merciful with his victims than Damon is, but it's the same thing essentially.

"Caroline?" he asks. He speaks with his words long, steady and weighted. His voice isn't shaky or nervous, but the question there is as obvious as if it had been.

She doesn't want to answer it.

"Let's go back to the hotel," she says tensely. "I'm a little tired."

.:.

**A/N: **So, a lot of you guys have picked up on the fact that the honeymoon period is coming to an end. As I've discussed with my beta, I'm a little worried about my characterisation of Klaus, but get prepared to see a more temperamental side of him in the next couple of chapters :P **Spoilers! **

Guys, as always, I just want to say just a HUGE thank you to everyone who is taking the time to read and review this story. It's such an amazing inspiration to get this much feedback and ideas about my writing. So please keep it up!

Regarding reviews, just a reminder (I've said it at the top of this chapter as well):

And grammatical errors that you've seen are to be PM'd to my beta, _Angel of the Fallen Stars. _She feels that she is the person you guys should be talking to, but as always, we welcome the constructive feedback!

But yeah, review guys! Thanks for reading!


	10. and whisper some silver reply

**A/N: **At this point in time, the only thing that I have is a hangover, and work in twenty minutes. You're welcome to both.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: Thanks for all the amazing reviews thus far. I CAN'T believe, I'm only uploading chapter ten now, and we're already past 300 reviews.

I've been thinking about writing another Klaroline multi-fic, but I'm a bit upset because I've been thinking about it for weeks, but two days ago I found the same plot line in a photoset on Tumblr. You guys still interested, or is that plagiarism? (It's the idea that Caroline was an original along with Klaus etc?—could even just be a oneshot...)

:

"_And whisper some silver reply," _

:

The ride home is tense to say the least. Despite the fact that Caroline has already been told about his eating habits, she finds witnessing it an entirely different thing. They leave early Saturday morning, and Caroline finds herself practically itching for some time away from him (which upsets her, because she can see that her reaction isn't making him happy by any accounts). He grumbles through their encounter in the morning, and their run to the car is filled with silence, and terse instructions. And if that was awkward, now that they're in the car, it feels like they haven't spoken in years.

In the end, he's the one who breaks the silence.

"I didn't kill her, you know." He says his voice low and hoarse. He's less focused on the road than he was on the drive up, turning to face her with one hand on the wheel. Said hand is tight and stressed, and it makes her a little nervous.

Caroline barely leaves a pause.

"I know," she says quickly.

He does leave a pause. The silence feels as though it's going to crush her, and she looks to her hands to avoid it.

"Then _why_ are acting like _this_?" he asks. He is trying to keep his voice even, but his crushing grip on the steering wheel suggests he's struggling. He's angry, she can tell.

She's not angry. That much she knows for certain. She's not disappointed either, or worried, or nervous or, even, scared. What she's feeling right now is a mixture of things that she can't quite put her finger on. It's like something is trying to tell her that this must be it: The big thing that he'll do wrong. Because so far, everything else that's he's done has been perfect, and no one's perfect—so this must be the one fault that could break them apart.

His hand moves to shift gears and Caroline remembers that on the way up, that hand was wrapped tightly around hers.

She suddenly doesn't want this silence to continue.

"It's just," she says quickly, not knowing at all what she should do with her own hands. She flails awkwardly for a second before she rests them stiffly in her lap.

He looks at her. _Obviously._ Because you can't just say 'it's just' and expect that to be the end of it. He's waiting for her to continue.

She sighs.

"It's just what, Caroline?" he asks, his voice soft and serious as he peers across the car at her.

Okay. Right.

She takes a deep breath and tries again.

"_It's just," _she begins, her voice laced with nothing but pure determination. "Why did you make her blonde?"

There is a pregnant pause.

Then,

"I didn't make her blonde, Caroline." He says, the sound an audible scoff in her ear. For a second, Caroline feels small and a little bit smaller than she has around him and she decides very quickly that she doesn't like that feeling at all. "I was thirsty, and I'm a vampire. What do you want me to do?" He's angry. Not as angry as Tyler would have been in his douchier days, but definitely more angry than she'd ever seen him before. Caroline starts to consider ways of calming down the situation. Maybe she could ask him to stop the car, or tell him that she'd like to sleep now and that they can talk about it later. Before she can really think about her options though, he's talking again.

"I didn't _make _her blonde." He repeats himself. "She did. And not very well, I might add—you could see the natural colour beneath." He looks across at her for another second. "Please don't ever dye your hair."

His mood swings takes her off guard, but she can't pause to think about that.

Instead, the words make her tense, and she feels all her muscles constrict. There it is again. There's this girl, who had been nothing more to him that lunch, and then there's Caroline. And he's pointing out the similarities—likening them in a way that makes her skin crawl.

He immediately notes her stress. He seems to know that touching her at this point isn't the right idea, because he keeps his hand to himself—but Caroline watches as his fingers inch slightly towards her before he takes care of it—by grasping both hands to the wheel tightly. She's comforted by the fact that he's respected her boundaries, and that must mean something right?

"Caroline?"

"You need to stop making her like me!" She ends up suddenly snapping shrilly. "I don't want to see you do that to girls. I don't want you to do that to people, period. And I really, _really _don't want them to look like me!"

Again, a pause fills the silence. It swirls there for a moment, and Caroline feels like she's almost watching it—until it's banished with Nick's next words.

"She wasn't supposed to be you." He says. "She was just there."

The phrase is so casual, so callous that Caroline's stomach rolls. Her face contorts in a grimace and she groans at his words. "She was just there? She was convenient?"

Now, with Tyler and Matt she was good at predicting the response this would have gotten. Matt, the bumbling young man with the great smile, would have backtracked. His eyes would have widened and he might have even taken a physical step backwards if she sent that question at him. He isn't a bad guy—in the end. Matt is the nicest guy she'll ever meet—even compared to Nick. The idea of him hurting any person is ridiculous—and the suggestion that Matt might use a girl in any way?

Any one saying it just clearly doesn't know the guy.

As for Tyler? The idea of him using a girl wasn't too far out there for the young hybrid (hello, Vicki Donovan, anyone?) But still, it isn't something he boasts about. He hadn't then and he doesn't now. Caroline actually thinks that there's a good chance he didn't even know what a jackass he was most of the time back then. But now? He would be offended to hear the accusation reeling at his ears. He'd pause for a moment, before coming back angrily. ("What does that even mean, _Caroline?"_ he might fire back at her. "Of course I'm not doing anything like that.")

Both were good first lines of defence.

Nick opted to choose his own, third option.

For starters, he instantly pulls over the car. Still tense, Caroline's eyes only widen as the machine quickly veered to the right and off the road, slowing down under his control. When the car finally comes to a halt, there is a rigid silence as Nick undoes his seatbelt and twists in his seat to look at her.

"She was a meal to me, Caroline," he says icily. "So yes, she _was _convenient."

Yeah. Sure. This _is _it. She realises. This is the only imperfect thing about her otherwise charming prince. This is how he views the human race and that contrasts too starkly with her own views. All of a sudden, scenarios about break ups and their fights and their arguments spin chaotically through Caroline's head—so fast she almost feels dizzy.

She is only grounded when Nick turns again, pushing out of the car and slamming the door behind him.

Right, she thinks, jerked back to reality by the sound of metal on metal. This is a thing that's happening right now. Neurotic, crazy Caroline could wait to theorise. She'd have to, because right now, she notes, Nick is out the front of the car, somewhat patiently waiting for her to follow.

She tentatively undoes her own seatbelt and then copies his actions, slipping out of the car. She makes a point to close the door with less force, though, before hesitantly approaching him.

Her slow approach makes him frown.

"Are you afraid of me, Caroline?" he asks.

She notices at about this point that the pet names seem to have vanished. It looks like his terms of endearment for her were only to be used when they were in a harmonious place. For now, all she's getting is 'Caroline' and she kind of really hates the way that he's saying her name, because it's making her ache to forget that their fighting. She just wants to forgive him, and then have her nasty way with him.

She is really not good for the feminist cause, she thinks. Or for the Caroline Forbes cause, either. How can she be expected to be taken seriously if all she can think about is sex now that they've jumped that hurdle?

Not that jumping that hurdle was difficult. No, indeed, jumping him was (brilliant, amazing, fulfilling, blissful, magnificent—)

—Goddamn, she's supposed to be furious with him.

She can't quite bring herself to tell him that she's scared of him though. She's not. She's scared of what their inevitable argument will bring. She's terrified that the result might be him yelling at her. ("You're too crazy for me, _Caroline. _I'm not putting up with you anymore, _Caroline._") She shakes her head, and then clears her throat. "No," she says, slightly hoarse but still desperate to make sure he understands. "I'm not scared of you."

Nick gives a tight shrug of the shoulders. "Then what is it?" he asks. "What is it that I've done wrong?"

Caroline can't quite articulate it at this point, for the most part because she doesn't really know the answer. It's a bit stupid, if she thinks hard about it. Can she be truly angry with him about this? She can't expect every vampire that she meets to hold the same views and be totally against death and killing.

"The girl," she says – her voice small. "You just bit her."

Nick is silent for a few short seconds before he directs his eyes to the sky – like only divine intervention could get his point across. Caroline, somehow, finds herself half-insulted and half-amused at his action.

"Caroline," he begins, and she winces because he really needs to stop saying her name like he's licking it or something. Not if he wants her to focus, that is. "I'm a vampire. That's what vampire's do."

Caroline shakes her head defiantly. "Nuh-uh," she says petulantly. "I don't."

Nick shrugs, helpless. "You're a unique kind of person," he says simply. "And you're in the minority." He pauses again. "I didn't even kill her." It's clear in his tone he considers that important and that very fact alone should enough to end the argument.

Caroline shrugs, mostly because she doesn't know what else to do.

Nick sighs loudly in frustration. He moves forward quickly (not blur quickly, but a moderate pace for a fast walking human, shall we say?) and grips her by the shoulders. His grasp isn't tight or painful, but it's sturdy and it's all so that he can look right into her eyes as he can speak next.

"Caroline," he says her name again. "I understand how you feel about drinking from them, and I'm happy to let you keep doing your thing with the blood bags. But you need to understand that I don't have a moral conscience that's as annoying as yours, and this is how I live my life."

She is silent.

He waits for a moment before deducing that she doesn't have a response. He moves his hand (the one on her left), and tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, letting the soft strands move through his fingers.

"Caroline." (Right, that's it. One more time and she's either going to stick her foot up his ass, or she's going to make him stick something of his in something of hers). "_Love." _Okay. The pet name is back. Is that good? (She can't really tell if it's brilliant, or just a little patronising).

Nick cups her cheeks in his hands and steps a little closer to her. He runs one thumb along her cheekbone, looking down at her fondly. "I love you, and I'm not going to let this ruin us. But you can't ask me to change who I am for you."

_Huh. _

Right then.

That's fair enough. Caroline really shouldn't keep to a double standard. She wasn't out to change who he was – he is her perfect man. And Nick has never tried to change her, so she can work to do the same. It's just the one thing.

She lets a small smile creep onto her face as she looks into his eyes. Her expressions often directly affect his, and so a wide grin greets her back. It quirks into a smile when he turns and rests his arm over her shoulders as they stroll back to the car (it's only a couple of steps, she notices. Funny. It had felt like longer than that).

It's only when he's pulled back onto the freeway that she finally decides to process the beginning portion of what he's said to her.

Wait. _What? _

She jerks in surprise as she recalls his words and turns to look at him incredulously. "Wait," she says out loud (embarrassingly, her voice has risen a few shrill octaves). "Did you say that you _love _me?"

There's his trademark smirk on his face—she can see it from where she sits, as well as in the reflection on the windscreen of the car. Still, his shoulders hunch back slightly, but apart from that, he appears perfectly calm.

"Take it or leave it, love," he says simply. "But I think you're a bit stuck with me."

.:.

They end up getting back to Mystic Falls much later than they'd anticipated. Mostly, because directly following his unconventional declaration of love, Caroline had literally climbed into his lap to kiss him. He'd been laughing as he pulled over for a second time, and she giggling, but their amusement soon turned to desire as things progressed. Moans and groans filled the car and their body heat made the windows foggy.

It had taken them around forty five minutes (two trips each to la-la-land in their bliss) to get back on the road.

But she holds his hand tightly in hers for the rest of the ride home. She keeps their entwined hands on her lap, and his thumb is pleasantly moving across her thigh.

"Thank you so much for this trip," she says. Caroline's exhausted from their activities, her neck hurting a little from the angle at which things had proceeded, but that doesn't hide the joy and gratitude in her voice.

He smirks slightly at that. "You've said that already, sweetheart."

She has. And she'll probably say it again before the car ride is finished—and maybe once more when they arrive at their destination. It doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter if she's just a small town girl. She's been to _New York _now, and that's just the first of many places that he wants to take her now. This idea—of _not_ staying in Mystic Falls her whole life, of not becoming one of _those _women, who's glory days were cheerleading in high school—it's mesmerising and she can't thank him enough for being the one to put it in her mind.

So she brushes off his amused remark. "I don't care," she tells him frankly. "You took me to New York. I'm not even sure if you understand how much that means to me."

She thinks about all those people overseas, who don't have a place like New York to go to. It only took eight hours for her to drive there. Other people have to be on planes for days just to come to this country and see its successes.

"I'll take you wherever you want me to, love," he says to her. The love at the end has a whole new meaning now, and it makes her chest swell with an overwhelming amount of emotion. There is a very good chance that she may actually burst from the happiness, and she finds herself actually scoffing out loud to the idea that she'd been angry with him before. He was right. He was a vampire—that's what vampires did. He respected her enough to let her make her own eating choices, so she would have to do the same for him.

Besides, she thinks, it's not like he killed that girl. He's promised to stop finding ones who look like her, and that helps, but still. He didn't kill any one—in fact, he fed from her in a way that looked more pleasant than any way that she'd ever done it (or seen Stefan or Damon do it, for that matter).

She squeezes his hand in hers and his thumb pauses for a minute, moving to instead stroke the back of her hand. She smiles.

"By the way," she says, lifting their hands and bringing his to her lips. She plants a sweet kiss on the back of his hand. "I love you, too."

.:.

It's been a brilliant holiday, she thinks. How could she, for even one minute, have imagined not saying _yes_ to coming away with him? It's probably been a few of the greatest days of her life (and yes, the Empire State Building was one of the high points—come on. How many other people have joined the mile high club while still standing on the ground? She's seeing it that way anyway). But even if that hadn't happened—just getting to know him, and spending all that time with him and hearing that he _loves her_ was worth it.

She still frowns though, as the car pulls to a stop prematurely. "My house is just down this street," she says, frowning.

Nick looks at her with an odd expression on his face. Caroline can't even begin to place it. "I know," he says quickly. "But I didn't fill up the tank before we left and I'm worried I won't have enough gas to get home."

Caroline considers reminding him that this is _Mystic Falls_—a town so small that on something like two litres of gas, you can span the entire town—but decides against it. It's not worth ruining a brilliant end to their break like this with a joke that will probably end up sounding crazy and suspicious.

(Besides, thus far she's managed to be a little less crazy and suspicious, right?)

(_Right?) _

She gives him a sweet kiss goodbye as he helps her get her trunk out of the car, before he gets back into it. He waves warmly as he drives away.

It takes Caroline just under a second to speed to her front door, bags in tow. But when she arrives, she's abruptly stopped from entering her house.

"Caroline," Tyler gasps, launching at her and pulling her into a rough embrace. "Thank _god._"

Uhm, okay. What?

She stays still for a second as Tyler hugs her, until he makes a weird noise into her ear and pulls back a little. "You smell ..." he trails off, his brows furrowing, but Caroline's heard enough. She struggles out of his grip and frowns at him, gripping the handle of her bag tighter to keep her from getting too angry.

"Nice to see you too, Tyler," she says, rolling her eyes as she tries to sidestep him and get inside her house.

He blocks her. "Whoa, hey—where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. I thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

Caroline's frown melds into a scowl and she wrinkles her nose at her ex. "Uhm, what?"

Tyler shrugs, as though he really has no idea why she's a little miffed. "I didn't see you at school," he explained. "And I was worried about you."

"Right, well, you can stop _that _right now." Caroline says with another roll of her eyes. "You don't get to be worried about me anymore, Tyler."

Again, she tried to step around him, but he catches her this time. He grabs her shoulders, similarly to the way that Nick had held her when he'd told her that he loved her. This time the hold is uncomfortable and his grip is too tight.

"What? Caroline—don't be like that."

She shrugs him off again, scowling at him. "Just leave me alone, Tyler," she says, this time finally successful in getting around him. She pulls her keys from her purse and jams them in the screen door, unlocking that first.

He pulls at her arm again and turns her to face him.

"So what?" he asks aggressively. "Just because we broke up, we can't be friends anymore?"

Caroline thinks _that _much would be obvious.

Besides, "we didn't just break up, Tyler," she says snarkily. "You dumped me."

"You were convinced I was going to sell you out to Klaus!"

"Only because you _were_."

"I would not have," Tyler protests. "I wouldn't have done that to you, Caroline."

Caroline just shrugs her shoulders. "You wouldn't have had a choice, Tyler."

Tyler lets out a groan, but drops her arm. She moves to the next door now, unlocking it and stepping inside. Of course, Tyler has already been invited in, so there's not much she can do to stop him following her.

He's on his way to arguing with her again when she holds up a hand. "I don't have time for this, Tyler." She says tiredly. "I just want to go and lie down and sleep. I'm exhausted."

She hopes that he can't smell exactly what activities have gotten her so tired. It looks like for once, fate is on her side and Tyler doesn't even mention it, instead asking more of his own questions.

"Can you at least tell me where you were?" he says. "I'm allowed to still be concerned about you."

Caroline sighs.

"If you must know," she says, placing her purse down on the coffee table, while she wheels her bag to the side of the couch. "I was away with my boyfriend. He took me on a surprise trip to New York."

She can't deny that she feels a tiny thrill watching his face when she tells him that she has a boyfriend. It isn't the pure devastation that an earlier form of Caroline would have been waiting for, but it's enough surprise to let Caroline know that she's certainly beaten him (you know, in that game exes play to hook up with someone else first).

"Oh," Tyler says, suddenly awkward. He lifts a hand to scratch the back of his neck as he avoids her gaze. "Right then—sorry."

Caroline smiles back awkwardly. "Not a problem. Can I sleep now?"

Tyler doesn't respond straight away and she had to say his name again to get his attention. Once she's got it though, he nods hastily. "Oh, yeah, right." He says, nodding his head a little too enthusiastically.

She's just managed to get him out of the door when he pauses on her doorstep and turns to face her. "When do I get to meet him?" he asks, apparently having snapped out of his little moment.

Caroline frowns. "What?"

Tyler grins cheekily. "When do I get to meet your new guy? Everyone knows that you have to get your ex's seal of approval before you start dating again." (He's still laughing when she closes the door in his face. As a matter of fact, she can hear his good natured chuckles as she walks further into her house).

The sound leaves her wondering... When is a good time to introduce Nick to everyone? He loves her, doesn't he? She'd talk about it with him, of course, but Caroline's beginning to think it's about time that Elena and Bonnie meet her new boy.

.:.

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait for this chapter you guys. The whole process has been a bit problematic—I had huge troubles with Klaus's character this chapter, then the internet was down for me, and when it wasn't down for me it was down for my beta. So yes, BIG apologies, and I hope this chapter makes up for it.

On the Brightside, it's my eighteen birthday today—and because I live in Australia, that's a pretty big thing meaning I was able to go clubbing last night. So I'm a little (A LOT) hung over, and staring at this screen is making my head hurt a little, and I have to go to work in about twenty minutes, SO I WAS THINKING, maybe EVERYONE WHO READS THIS LITTLE AUTHORS NOTE could give me a review? As a very awesome pick me up and brilliant B'day present? YES? :D

PS. Guys, Julie Plec says someone is going to die in todays episode of TVD. I have to wait til I get home from work to watch it, so I'm FREAKING OUT. :S


	11. wake me in time

**A/N: **At this point in time, the only thing that I have is a hangover, and work in twenty minutes. You're welcome to both.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb**: OH HELLO THERE, READERS. MAY I ENQUIRE AS TO WHAT IS IN AN UPWARDS DIRECTION?

First things first, I am _tres _sorry about the wait. Like I said, I've been moving house and my internet has been on the fritz. (PS. For those of you who said that that was a shitty excuse, I'd just like to remind you and I am not a small person who lives in your computer screen. I've had to be physically catching possums in the roof for the last three days, and getting carpet put in upstairs and my friend just got dumped by a total asshat, so I had to go out clubbing with her to make her feel better—gosh, I am such a _good friend_).

ANYWHOOOZLES, I'll let you get to the next chapter. Elevensies is on the way (AND, as a thank you for you guys who are putting up with my shitty authordom, chapter 12 is edited and ready to go).

.:.

"_Wake me in time," _

.:.

When Caroline slips back into his car the next morning, it feels more like home that her own house has recently. It smells like him, and it's warm in here—directly opposite to the way her mother does look at her. She grasps his hand tightly and holds on to him even when he changes the gears. (It always feels the best, though; when his hand rests softly over hers, warm when it's back on her thigh).

She chatters on to him about the Homecoming Dance—the one that she is pretty much in charge of planning. He listens and nods, both of them happy to forget their recent fight in lieu of thinking about the better things that happened during their time away together. The trip to New York, his unconventional way of telling her that he loves her.

Because he fucking _loves _her, and she doesn't think that she'd ever expected it to feel this fantastic.

So, it's different to the feeling in her house. Liz has been better around her recently, happy to see that her daughter is happier as of late. But it's still cold to be inside her house. It's different than the way it was when she was alive. Even if the two Forbes women had been fighting for most of the time before Caroline was murdered, there is a sense of emptiness now—that reminds the two of them why they don't argue anymore. Because for all intents and purposes, Caroline is alive—but her heart doesn't beat, and Liz will always have problems with that.

As her thoughts stray back to it, Nick reminds her (once again) how brilliant he is. He picks up on her changed mood instantly and squeezes her hand, distracting her.

He watches her for a moment, his eyes cool and collected, and confidently seeing into her soul. Then he takes a deep breath. She worries for a moment that this is when he asks her what's wrong.

(Which is totally a loaded question – one she cannot answer. It's just something that's way too complicated. She can barely string it together in her head, let alone in words, for him).

Again, he surprises her.

He does her a favour and lets the subject drop and instead smiles calmly. "Where did you want me to drop you off?"

Caroline smiles at him first. Even if it's something that should bother him—like hiding the fact that they're dating from her friends and not letting him near enough for them to see him—he still sounds calm and confident and completely unfazed—like he always does.

This time, she's happy to pay him back for his graciousness with a grin. "At the school is fine." She says.

It comes out casually but he immediately understands what it is that she's telling him. That post their brilliant vacation she no longer feels the need of hiding him from her friends. Still, she's not keen on just boasting about her amazing new boyfriend (who _loves _her). She'll do this as subtly as she can. He's her boyfriend (who _loves _her) and she isn't going to just hide him away (even if it's more of a selfish thing than a shame thing).

His hand moves quickly to rest on her knee, and squeezes it slightly. Caroline bites her lip, smiling, as the car pulls onto the road and moves to the limit. The drive from her home to school is short but she feels the familiar swell in her stomach. She knows that were her heart able to beat, the nervousness that comes with what's about to happen might have made it beat into a heart attack.

Caroline is very apprehensive of what her friends will think of him, but still oddly excited about it too. She can't wait to see Bonnie's and Elena's faces.

Nick purposely keeps the conversation casual.

"Has that girl been bothering you still? What's her name? Jill?"

She smiles at him, feeling a weight leave her shoulders.

(Even if the irritation she feels at him mentioning _Jessica_ flares up instantly. That stupid bitch has been trying to get a theme for Homecoming.

"_Under the Sea,_"Jessica has been insisting.

Caroline has to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "We don't need a theme—it's freaking _Homecoming._ That's the theme already.")

"Speaking of the dance," Caroline says, bringing her other hand to rest on top of their already joined ones. "You know you're going with me, right?"

He smirks slightly, mostly to himself, like the idea entertains him but makes him happy at the same time.

"Doesn't sound like I have a choice," He comments dryly.

She smirks at him. "At least I'm telling you now," she tells him. "And not leaving it a surprise."

He chuckles slightly. "Right, so I take you to New York, and you take me to your Homecoming dance?" he verifies.

She nods affirmatively. "If everything goes to plan, it'll be just as impressive."

He pulls up into her school car park and turns the car off. Shifting in his seat, he moves, gently resting his hand on the back of her neck and pulling her forward into a sweet, chaste kiss. When he pulls back, he brushes a strand of hair from her face and smiles softly at her.

"If you're there, love, then I'm sure it will be."

.:.

Jessica doesn't do anything to help her case when Caroline arrives at school in the morning. As the chair of the committee, Caroline uses her first free period of the day desperately trying to organise this meeting. Of course, the first thing that greets her is a frown from the short brunette girl, who demands to know why Caroline has been AWOL for the last couple of days.

(Right, because with two weeks until the actual dance, Caroline should be expecting frantic calls about the dance going wrong. Even she's not that _dramatic, _right?)

Still, Jessica's been a bitch of a roadblock thus far—so why should she be acting any different now?

And, well, getting to tell her to her face that her boyfriend took her on a surprise trip to New York is pretty much the most satisfied Caroline's ever been. Jess shrinks back a little, face flushing in annoyance as she realises that while she was plotting to overthrow Caroline's perfect homecoming dance, Caroline's been out of state with her boyfriend.

She mutters something that sounds rude and rolls her eyes. "What if something had gone wrong?" she asks sourly.

Caroline manages to keep her bright smile on her face, and squash the need to punch this chick into the back of her mind. "What could have gone wrong, Jess?" she asks, her fake smile beaming. "When I have a great team who's doing such amazing work?"

Normally she wouldn't let any of them think they were doing well. The key to good planning has always been to keep the workers on their toes. But taking Jess down a tick will scare them into compliance, right?

(Come on people, she is _Miss _Mystic Falls. She knows her stuff.)

With her obvious flattery, however, Caroline is rushed by the rest of the girls, who are keen to stay in her good graces, and all is right in the world again.

It's in between first and second period that Tyler catches up with her again. She's walking with Bonnie, who's been talking to her about the history that Caroline missed out on. Caroline's just saying how she thinks that she should be able to catch up on that with some help from her super amazing boyfriend

(Who, by the way, her friends are a bit sick of hearing about.

"Yeah, we get it. You're love life is perfect. You don't have to talk about it all the time."

Bonnie says she's been being a little insensitive, all things considered in the Damon/Stefan/Elena world. As well as the Bonnie/Jeremy flop that it seems to be turning into – given how Bonnie's been acting recently.)

Anyway, Caroline barely has time to voice her protests ("Come _on,_ Bonnie. Just because you're not doing great doesn't mean I can't. I've already been through that shit storm—it's about time a guy like Nick came around, after all the other guys I've dealt with."'), when Tyler stands in front of her heavily and looks at her closely. (Pretty much proving her point, right there – exhibit 'C' in the museum of Caroline's failed relationships.)

"I need to talk to you." He says, as his hand closes tightly around her forearm.

She scowls at him, looks down to her arm and pushes him off (it hurts her too much for her to be anything but insulted by how he's acting). "Jeez, Tyler, what the hell?"

He doesn't go to grab her again, but his eyes flash in that dangerous way they always do when she can tell he's having problems with his temper.

"We need to talk, Caroline."

Caroline is actually stunned by his attitude that she doesn't really know what to say. Is he really actually doing this, in the hall in front of all these people? This macho act never really impressed her (okay, no that's a lie, but sure as hell it doesn't impress her _now). _And it seemed like they were heading towards being amicable again, too.

Bonnie has to be the one who moves, because Caroline is too busy gaping like an idiot at him.

"You know what Tyler? _Back off._" She says soundly. She readjusts her grasp on her school textbooks and then moves away. "Come on, Caroline," she says, already walking past.

Caroline lets her gaze linger on him for a moment, on his frantic eyes and his clenched fists, before she rolls her eyes and pushes past him, catching up to Bonnie.

"God, can you believe that?" she asks, her eyes wide and a smile growing so she can laugh incredulously at that moment.

"I hope your new guy is better than him," Bonnie says, shaking her head. Her ringtone goes off and she shoves a hand into her bag to retrieve it, struggling to hold onto her books. Caroline takes them from her and beams.

"He is," she has time to say before Bonnie has located the phone and is pulling it up to her ear.

Bonnie smiles at her before focusing her attention on the phone. The conversation is quick _("Oh hey... yeah, sure... why, what is it? ...Really? We can be there in ten... I have my car... alright see you then... bye... be careful.")_. Caroline immediately surmises that it's one of their haphazardly-formed scooby gang on the other end.

Sure enough,

"That was Elena." Bonnie says, pulling the phone away from her ear. "She's at the Salvatores, with Damon. She says that she needs us to get there straight away."

Caroline nods quickly. Sure, she's been known to complain about their gang of crime fighters, but if Elena needs them there, it'll be important. It's been important every other time, hasn't it?

"Should we get Rick?" She asks quickly, "or is he already there?"

Bonnie pauses for a moment as she recounts the phone conversation back mentally before frowning. "Elena didn't mention him. Do you think we should go check?"

They make the quick decision, and head to his normal classroom. If he's not there, the two girls decide they won't waste their time looking around the school for him—especially when he could easily already be at the Salvatore's.

But when they arrive at his classroom, they find that he is indeed there, and with a class full of freshmen.

Feigning a message from front desk, they quickly get him outside.

"Something's happening at the mansion," they tell him quickly, "think you can get away to come along?"

Rick considers it momentarily, before shaking his head. Something about the freshmen and their first midterms, and how important it is to prepare them for it. "I'll get there after this class—but you should go now."

The two girls nod and leave him at the school. Caroline is already whipping out her phone as they walk back through the halls and towards where Bonnie has parked her car. She thinks about texting Nick first, but decides it's probably better to talk to her mum. The phone rings a couple of times before her mother picks up at the office.

"Hey, it's me," she greets her mother immediately. "Look, I'm headed over to the Salvatores so we can sort out the Klaus problem. Can you call the school and tell them that Bonnie and I are leaving?"

It's handy, having the sheriff for a mum, she thinks.

Liz sounds a little annoyed (as any parent would, being asked to lie to facilitate their child skipping school) but she's also the Sherriff, whose job is to protect the town from misfortune – which is Klaus. She reluctantly agrees.

It's only when they're actually slipping into Bonnie's car and Caroline is pulling her seat belt on that she pulls up the screen for a blank text.

_Hey, _she texts, _something's come up. Can't see you tonight. Tomorrow? _Signing it off with a love heart and a smiley face, she tucks her phone back into her jeans and lets that be the end of it.

.:.

She doesn't get a reply until they're actually inside the Salvatore Mansion. Caroline feels her phone vibrate and barely has time to read his response (_that's fine love, see you then_—he's never been one to use emoticons) before she's pulled into the drama that she'd been blissfully unaware of for the last couple of days.

Stefan isn't here—thank god (he's gotten way too creepy to be around these days)—but Jeremy is. Elena doesn't seem happy about it though. There is an awkward moment when Bonnie ignores Jeremy's presence and Caroline wonders just how much she's missed these last couple of days.

Damon's eyes flash dangerously when he sees her.

"Have a good holiday, Caroline?" he asks her, as she pushes the phone back into her pocket without replying. Clearly the eldest Salvatore isn't entirely happy with her weekend trip away. She won't let that get to her though. Maybe Damon should take a leaf out of Nick's book and start acting like a _gentleman. _

So she rolls her eyes and moves straight to Elena's side. "What's up?" she elects to ask, deciding to just ignore the jibing vampire. "Nothing's wrong, is it?"

Elena shakes her head. "Not right now," she says in a sort of delicate way, as though she doesn't want to jinx anything by sounding over confident. "Bonnie, how's it going with the ghosts?"

Caroline gives a start. "The what?" Ghosts? As in _plural? _

Three pairs of incredulous eyes turn to frown at her. Damon just rolls his eyes and takes a tired sip from his drink. (It's alcohol. If it had been blood, Caroline would have known). She refuses to feel guilty for this though.

"I haven't been here, guys." She says to them. "You'll have to catch me up."

Damon shrugs. "Maybe you shouldn't have left."

Caroline glares at her, squaring her shoulders and letting her hands drop to her waist. "Look," she says venomously, moving forward. "I don't care how _old _you are, Damon. You've seen the world, and came back _here. _I am only seventeen—and I'll be damned if I let the shit that happens in this town stop me from living my life."

"You're dead, Blondie," he says evenly.

Caroline looks ready to hit him so Elena hastily stands and puts herself in between them. "Damon, just leave her alone. She's right. She can't let all of this stop her life." The way Elena says it instantly makes Caroline feel guilty. Right, because Caroline won't let it stop her life, even while it's got Elena's messed up from every direction.

"There've been ghosts here." She tells Caroline quietly, while Caroline sits down in an effort to convince herself to stop feeling so guilty. "First it was just Anna and Vicki—and only Jeremy could see them. But when Bonnie tried to send them away, she ended up giving them physical form—all of them—so they're around." She glances nervously at Damon. "He's just a little sour because he got attacked by Mason Lockwood."

Damon lets out a dry scoff, and downs the rest of his scotch.

Bonnie clears her throat. "I've gotten rid of them now," she says loudly. "This time I'm certain. They're all gone." Her gaze glances towards Jeremy—who meets her eyes for a mere second before he looks away.

Oh yeah, something happened there.

(Caroline suddenly feels a little bad that she's been so vehemently defending her brilliant new relationship, since she hasn't even noticed something was wrong with Bonnie's).

"Well that's something, at least," Elena sighs in relief.

Damon leans forward from where he's pouring himself some more drink, and shakes his head. "Not why we need Sabrina here, though," he says with a shrug.

(Sabrina, as in the teenage witch, Caroline hopes the reference means. Bonnie's eyes narrow as she understands it as well).

"Why did you call _Bonnie?"_ Elena asks, putting emphasis on her friend's name. It only irks Caroline slightly that it's cool for Damon to call her Blondie, but 'Sabrina' is just too rude. Whatever, she decides. There are worse nicknames.

Damon smiles evenly. "Mason showed me something, before he went 'poof'. A cave—a lot of caves actually—tunnels that run under the whole town. There's a part there—that vampires can't enter. Some sort of witchy mojo—wanted to see if Glinda here could figure it out."

Well, Glinda's a step up from Sabrina, at least.

So Damon shows them the caves. They wait there at the entrance for Rick to arrive (which takes another twenty minutes of awkward chatting—seeing as it looks like Elena and Bonnie are pissed at Jeremy, and Damon's pissed with Caroline, and she's just as hacked off with him. They try to pass the time by talking some more about the 'Kill-Klaus' plan, but that just gets everyone into a worse mood).

Not keen to endure the continued glares from his sister and his (ex?) girlfriend, Jeremy ultimately bows out at the last moment. He'll check them out next time—when he doesn't have a physics practical exam back at school. He takes Elena's car, and drives off. It's weird, of course, seeing as he still Elena's little brother, to see him able to drive all on his own. Still, Caroline can't help but feel relieved with his new absence. Now Damon can focus his attentions on Elena again, and Caroline can stop trying _not _to hit him in the face.

By the time Rick does arrive, the wind has picked up. But it's still relatively early in the morning and Caroline finds that she's not quite as affected by it as she used to be—vampiric skin appears to have extra insulation to it. But Elena and Bonnie are. Which is just adding kindling to the bonfire of their negative mood. Whatever drama that went down between Jeremy and Bonnie has left the two human girls really tense. And now, to top it all off, they're cold. It's making them completely on edge – enough for Caroline to know not to ask right now.

When the five of them finally make it down into the caves, they actually find out that it's warmer inside than outside in the chilling wind (which kind of helps). But the wind also sends a howling sound through the tunnels that would be terrifying if it were later in the day.

As it is, it's just dark.

"This way," Damon directs them, leading them down the twisty path that he seems to know his way around. After close to half an hour, Damon stops and grabs onto Caroline's wrist. "This is where you and I stop, Barbie." Elena and Bonnie both stop as well – Rick continues on – but not for long.

Damon urges them forward to follow Rick in and they do so without hesitation.

"What is this place?" Bonnie asks immediately, and Caroline is suddenly lost in a whirl of confusing new facts and ideas about Mystic Falls and the Originals that are haunting it.

.:.

They stay at Rick's apartment for the rest of the day, studying the pictures that they'd taken. (Said owner had to get back to school, but assured everyone he would begin research immediately after – with the promise of better, blown up photos and historic texts. For now they would have to manage with the smaller ones they had).

Stick drawings—real cave drawings that were probably as old as the Originals themselves, with old Viking script and symbols that Caroline can't even begin to understand—will be her company this afternoon. This will mostly be Rick's job, since he's the only one who could have any idea what they mean. It makes her feel useful for a little bit. While not the biggest fan of history, looking at the reminders left by people over hundreds of years ago was actually kind of interesting. She could see why Rick became a history teacher.

But, after some time, enough is enough.

Once Caroline realises that she can't look at another one without tearing her own eyes out, Bonnie offers to drive both her and Elena home. They both gratefully accept, and they only have to endure about two minutes of awkward goodbyes between Elena and Damon (who's staying until Rick returns) before they're on their way.

As they drive, Bonnie and Elena steer entirely clear of the subject that has kept them both so tense. Instead, they turn to Caroline to make them both more comfortable, and ask her about Nick.

Caroline finds it a bit odd that she's being asked to chat about him, after Bonnie's thing earlier (with the whole, talking about him too much, dilemma), but she's happy to be a distraction. It doesn't feel like Bonnie and Elena are mad at each other—they're just avoiding a talk, and Caroline's willing to bet money that it's about Jeremy.

"I want you guys to meet him," Caroline says evenly. "Because you seemed worried when we went away—and I want you guys to know that he's not some sort of psycho."

(She's not entirely sure how she's going to tell the others that Nick is a vampire, but maybe if she just gets it out in the open?—like ripping off a bandaid?)

Elena seems happy that Caroline wants to introduce him. She's a compassionate being, and Caroline thinks it worries her to have Caroline away with someone who's a stranger to her. In a brilliant best friend way, it's really sweet.

"Oh," Elena exclaims, as they pull up to the Gilbert residence. "I have those shoes you let me borrow—did you want to come in a grab them?"

Caroline recalls the shoes and smiles and nods (pretending that she hadn't totally forgotten about them). Neither of them wants to hold Bonnie up though—who's got family dinner with her Dad in like fifteen minutes.

"I'll drive Care home, Bonnie. Don't worry about it."

Bonnie smiles gratefully, and pulls out of the driveway quickly—as though she doesn't want to spend any more time here than necessary. Caroline can tell from the footsteps inside the house that Jeremy is watching her drive away from the window of his room.

When they get inside, Caroline quickly fetches her shoes, and gets the information about what happened from Jeremy somewhat begrudgingly, and mostly thanks to Elena.

("What did you expect Jeremy?" Elena asks. "Just because only you could see her doesn't mean it's not cheating.")

And from there, Caroline just had to interject.

("Whoa—whoa—_what_?")

And they cleared it all up.

So Jeremy had apparently cheated on Bonnie with his dead vampire ex-girlfriend who was also a ghost at the time. And she thought that having an ex-boyfriend who was keen on listening to insane hybrids was dramatic. At least her ex was still alive.

Elena lives only a couple of minutes drive away, so their car ride goes quickly—even faster as the two girls discuss exactly what's just happened between Elena's brother and their best friend.

She gets out of the car thinking about that, and only that. All the way to her door, while she absently reaches for her keys, she focuses on the fact that even if Tyler's being a bit annoying recently he's still around. And even if she's never going to cheat on Nick (because, hello? He's perfect) that doesn't mean she wants Tyler dead and gone.

Poor Jeremy. Poor Anna. Poor Bonnie.

The lock clicks in her front door and she pushes it open. She has barely stepped over the threshold when a violent force grabs her around the waist and forces her forward, into the house and crashing to the floor.

Poor _Caroline. _

.:.

**A/N: **I just noticed that JD from Scrubs reminds me a lot of Merlin from Merlin (Colin Morgan and his BEAUTIFUL CHEEKBONES—cut me a slice of THAT pie, plez).

Anyway, you have probably already sensed that this is a bit of a filler chapter, which is why I have the next chapter all ready to upload. BUT, as it is, I am a REVIEW JUNKIE and I need them. And we totally managed 50 for the last chapter, so how do we feel about trying to get there again for this one?

The quicker we get more, the faster I'll upload (BUT, because I'm not totally soulless, no matter what the review count, I'll have the next chapter up by Monday night—it's Saturday night in Australia atm, so that's two days?)

Now, while you're internally screaming at me for being such a shitty person, remember that YOU LOVE ME, and my dying desperation for reviews stems from my insecurities and horrible fear of rejection. This is the only place where people love me you guys. (I'm going to go cry now).

EX EX. REVIEW.


	12. to be out in the cold

**A/N: **RIGHT NOW, I have a guilty conscience and a Merlin season four box set that turned out to be a Grey's Anatomy disc with House episodes on it. (RANDOM, BTW).

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**Nb.** You know how I'm a totally shitty person, right? It's been a day longer than I thought it would, but here's chapter 12 for you. Unfortunatley, it might take a bit longer to get 13 out, but I'll try. Again guys, sorry a lot!

.:.

"_To be out in the cold," _

.:.

The first thing that Caroline registers is a lot of fucking _pain_.

Waking up after she'd been murdered had been painful—but not the worst thing she'd ever felt. It was odd the way she'd felt. Every sense she'd ever had was alive and she'd been confused and trying desperately to figure out exactly what was going on with her.

Blood suddenly looked like some sort of milkshake that she just wanted and that was disgusting right? (Plus, the light burned her eyes and it hurt to move and she just wanted to get back on that hospital bed and sleep until it went away).

But it wasn't the worst pain she'd ever felt.

Caroline recalls a car crash where her head hurt this much. Tyler has been the one at the wheel – but from what she'd later learned, the crash was by no means his fault.

In fact, if anyone were to be blamed for that little mishap, it would have to be Bonnie—because she was the one who didn't de-spell that little vampire dohicky and left it for everyone else to deal with the consequences.

Or, what the hell, let's just blame it on Katherine Pierce. She was the bitchy vampire that had everyone on a rampage anyway, wasn't she?

Still, Caroline could vividly remember the moments before the crash, when all Tyler could think about was some phantom noise in his head and she was trying desperately to reach for the steering wheel.

She could remember hitting her head on the dash when they crashed, and then suddenly being whisked away by paramedics. Her concern for Tyler was what mattered at that point—the crash wasn't his fault. She knew what it was like to hear some noise and not be able to think of anything else. Actually, they'd just been doing a study in history on the very same thing—prisoners of war who were tortured by loud noise that was played constantly? The important thing now was that Tyler was safe, and that none of them were dead.

And that's when the pain had hit her.

Worse than any hangover she'd ever had, the splitting pain between her ears had been enough to make her want to pull her own hair out. It was brief, maybe seconds long, but it felt like an age to her. For a moment she wondered if that was the sound that Tyler had heard was.

If it was, then she understood. She understood completely why he would have forgotten everything else and tried to make it stop. It was incapacity pain and she opened her mouth to scream for help. Nothing happened though—no sound.

Just an overwhelming dizziness that took over, until she felt her head hit the ground and everything melded into the same oneness of black.

But yeah, pain wasn't ever a good thing in her book.

.:.

Her head is practically singing its protest to its sudden introduction to the hard granite of her kitchen bench, but she knows that she has to react quickly. Spreading out her senses, she can tell that the person who barrelled her into the house is still lying on the floor in the hallway where they landed from the impact—(understandable, because hey, running into a vampire at that speed is kind of like hitting a hard wall). She flushes slightly when she realises that she wasn't forced into the kitchen—instead, her head wound (cut, really, because she is a vampire, and granite isn't hugely threatening to her) is mostly her fault. In her desperation to get away, she'd actually hit her own head against the sink top.

Which is, you know, _humiliating. _

But still, she needs to survive this, and she's learned that when people attack you, it's largely of the not good.

So she moves to the knife stand and pulls out a large pointy one that she knows should do the trick, and she spins around, ready to defend herself.

Her jaw drops to the floor, even though she manages to keep a hold on the blade.

"_Tyler?" _

Oh _hell _no.

Her ex-boyfriend pushes himself to his feet, and doesn't give her his attention until he's locked her front door behind them. He turns to face her.

Honestly, Caroline has expected some different sort of emotion on his face. Embarrassment and guilt maybe? After all, he's just attacked her and forced her into her home. Instead all she can pick up on his face is anger, with a dash of fury just for fun.

She doesn't give him time to start talking.

"Tyler, what the _hell?_"

She can tell sort of absently that she is bleeding from where her head hit the counter. The wound has already sealed, leaving a purplish bruise that will fade in the next couple of hours, but the blood is dripping past her eye now and she grimaces at the feeling—like a lone tear dripping from her eye, only this is red. That freaking _hurt. _

"You are such a hypocrite, did you know that Caroline?" Tyler snaps at her. She stays where she is, with the knife held out in front of her defensively, but he doesn't move either. He just stands strongly in the doorway that connects the house's foyer with the kitchen. "I mean—Jesus, what's _wrong _with you?"

And _what the fucking hell?_ Caroline doesn't even know how to respond. She just readjusts her grip on the knife and stares at him, her brows coming together in a frown.

"What are you talking about?" she finally decides is eloquent enough—and appropriate enough for this crazy situation. Five minutes ago, she'd been talking with Elena about the relationship problems between Jeremy and Bonnie—and actually glad that Tyler was still around.

Maybe she should have been focusing on her own old relationship problems.

"How can you sit on you high horse with me—and then go and do that, huh?" Tyler demands. His anger is practically rippling through the air—reminding Caroline of the man that Tyler was before his werewolf change. The one that dated Vicki and was rude to women of every kind.

Being a vampire heightened everything, didn't it?

Well, clearly being turned into a vampire by that creepazoid Klaus has only emphasised that Tyler was a giant dick.

"Tyler, I don't know what you're talking about." She tells him.

Taking a deep breath, she sets the knife down on the counter, and squares her shoulders. Tyler postures himself, crossing his arms across his chest and hulking his shoulders. There is a vein in his neck that's throbbing in a scary gross kind of way, and Caroline's reminded that he is a hybrid with an anger problem—and he's of the opinion that she somehow deserves that anger.

_Definitely_ not of the good.

Tyler snorts derisively, and rolls his eyes up to the ceiling.

"Right, of course. _Saint_ Caroline doesn't know what I'm talking about."

Saint Caroline? _Really? _Since when has anyone called her that, ever? She's been the bitch, the mean girl, the bimbo, the blonde, the barbie—but _saint? _What the hell is going on here?

She sets her jaw and pins him with a stony expression. "I think you should go now, Tyler." She says. "Get your head on straight. Do you really want to ruin our friendship because you're pissed about something?"

She steps closer again, in an effort to intimidate him out of her house. He has the strength inherent in his muscles, but even by only a couple of months, she's older than him by vampire standards. She can take him if she needs to—but she really doesn't think (however angry he is), that he's here to kill her or anything. He's just pissed, she decides. And wants answers for something.

When she takes that step forward, she realises how accurate that 'pissed' statement is. Not only is he angry (furious, even), but he's got the scent of liquor on his breath.

"Really?" he says loudly, "because I'm thinking I should stay for a bit." He doesn't sound smashed off his face, just a little tipsy—and with a hybrid's metabolism that can only mean he'd been drinking for most of the day.

"Oh god, you've been drinking?" She groans out loud as she moves forward. Sure, she's angry as hell right now (how dare he even try a stunt like this?) but something's got him upset and she's not just going to leave him. She pushes his arm slightly, trying to steady and calm him. "You should have some water, or something," she suggests.

He pushes her away from him roughly.

"Stop trying to change the subject," he snaps grumpily, storming past her and away from the kitchen. Caroline follows him wearily as he goes and eyes him as he finally sits down on her couch in the living room (the one repositioned until Caroline can fix that hole in her wall that's currently being hidden by the giant bookshelf—you know the hole—the one when Nick pushed her against the wall and accidentally revealed to her that he was a vampire as well?)

He sits in the couch and leans forward, burying his face in his hands as he groans. He then falls silent for a moment, leaving Caroline to stand awkwardly by the bookshelf, waiting to see what he's going to do next.

"I just don't get it Caroline—you dumped me _because _of Klaus."

Caroline waits patiently for him to continue, to see where this was going. Klaus? Klaus was the reason he was here having this little mental breakdown of his? Oh, when she finally meets that stupid original, she was really going to give him a piece of her mind.

But Tyler doesn't continue, just leaves the sentence hanging in the air like some awkward breeze that won't leave. She frowns slightly.

"Uhm, yeah."

Tyler suddenly looks at her like she's the most disgusting person on the planet. He stands from the couch and suddenly they're recreating that first fight between Nick and Caroline. Nick's on one side of the small table, and Caroline's on the other, watching him nervously as that same vein continues to jump out in his neck.

"He's _killed _people, Caroline. He killed Elena's aunt, and he killed Jules and he killed Elena." (She has to remind herself that Jules is that bitch of a werewolf who had vervain-ed the fuck out of her and then locked her in a cage. Hard to feel too much sympathy there, anyway—but now all Caroline wants to know is where the fuck this is going). "He killed _me, _Caroline. He made me drink his blood and then snapped my neck in front of all of our friends."

(And yeah, Caroline had been locked out of the school at that point—all because of her own stupidity—but that doesn't stop her from flinching at the word 'snapped'.)

Tyler shakes his head and grimaces. "I don't know how you can just forget about that."

Caroline frowns.

Okay, what in the hell is going on here?

She scowls at him. "I haven't forgotten any of that—what're you _talking _about?"

And now Tyler's looking at her like she's insane.

"Well, I don't know Caroline," he snarks sarcastically. "Maybe I was thinking those are things you should keep in mind before you go jumping into bed with the bad guy."

What the _hell? _

Caroline physically recoils at the thought and stares at Tyler like he's an idiot. She lets out a sharp laugh (kind of like an embarrassing bark of disbelief) and frowns.

"I'm not—what are you talking about?" She finishes it off with a breathless scoff, because honestly, the idea is so stupid that she can't even fully comprehend what he's saying.

Tyler thinks that she's in league with _Klaus?_

Seriously?

"Did you really think you were fooling anyone?" Tyler asks with a scoff of his own. "I talked to Jess and she said you haven't exactly been subtle about you're amazing new _boyfriend._"

Okay, number one, since when was fucking _Jess _a good source about what was going on in Caroline's life? The short brunette bitch had apparently made it her life's goal to mess with Caroline—and was Tyler really doing anything more than helping her out with that. Oh Jesus, what was Tyler even doing talking to Jess? Caroline would actually die if those two got together—if Tyler went for a girl like Jess, what had he even been doing with Caroline all those months?

Christ.

But secondly, and way more importantly, Caroline thinks, who does Tyler think he is bringing Nick into all of this now? Nick is her perfect boyfriend, and he won't be ruined by the likes of her ex-boyfriend and this immature little temper tantrum that he's having.

"Whoa—you don't even _know _Nick." She says to him, incredibly serious now—laughter is all well and good, but not when Tyler's attacking her boyfriend.

(Who really is brilliant, by the way. Caroline doesn't at all appreciate the way that Tyler said that little sentence).

(Come on, he's laughably better than Tyler was, right?)

Tyler grimaces as he watched her. "Nick?" he said incredulously. "What's that? Some sort of coping mechanism? Don't want to remember who he is so you give him some other name?"

And that makes even more than less sense.

Caroline lets out another laugh, quiet and dry, shock evident on her features. "Are you serious, Tyler?" she demands from him. "This is how you're going to treat my new boyfriend? Saying he's in league with Klaus?"

Tyler's dark scoff feels like a punch in Caroline's gut.

"Not in league with, Caroline." He says with a cruel laugh. "Is. You're boyfriend _is _Klaus. Now stop treating me like an idiot, and be fucking _honest._"

.:.

She lifts her hands and runs them through her hair, getting it out of her face and trying to find her bearings before she realises that this is just way too insane.

"_What_?" She breathes in abject horror. "How can you—what—where does that even come from—_why _would you _think _that?" she demands. Her words aren't stringing together properly and she can't figure it all out and the thoughts in her head are moving far too quickly for her to catch any of them.

Tyler lets out an exaggerated sigh and instead of rolling his eyes, seems to roll his whole body. It's like he's trying to stop himself from throwing something or really screaming (as though he's not been yelling at the top of his lungs all this time).

"Stop lying to me!" he says through clenched teeth. She can see that while he's frustrated and angry and furious he's doing his best to keep from really exploding and she appreciates that—especially if he honestly believes what he's saying. If she thought he was working with Klaus, she would have been furious.

But other than that,

This was fucking ridiculous.

"Tyler, I don't know what you're talking about. Nick hasn't done anything wrong." Caroline pleads with him. Maybe he'll see sense. Or at least calm down a bit?

Tyler scowls. "His name is _Klaus_, Caroline—and he's the one I'm sired to—remember. The reason you _dumped _me?"

Caroline scowls.

"Uhm, excuse you." She says, interjecting as her eyebrows pull together again. "But you dumped me—for your new hybrid life, remember?"

He rolls his eyes and brushes that comment off. "Oh, don't change the subject, Caroline," he snaps again. "You don't get to blame me for this."

Caroline stares at him. "_You're _blaming me, Tyler. Not the other way around."

"Well, _you deserve it_," he shouts. "Why would you refuse to help me when I was stuck with him, and then hook up with him like it's nothing?"

This is when the accusations become agitating. She's laughed them off so far and she's listened to him accuse her and her boyfriend, but that's the end of it. No more.

"Stop. I have _not _hooked up with _Klaus." _She says strongly.

Tyler falls silent and considers her for a moment.

"You don't know—you don't know who he is?"

She throws her hands up into the air and lets out a shout of exasperation. "What are you _talking about_?"

He snorts.

"Did you even think about it?" he asks, his voice calmed now—but venomous. "The time that he got to town? Where he goes when he's not around? Hell—does he fake a different accent?"

Accent?

The beautiful British accent that has had Caroline swooning since the first moment he opened his mouth? It's one of those defining things about Nick that she loves and there is no way that—

But Klaus has an accent, a voice nags at her. She's heard Elena complain about it before, and Damon scoff at it. ("Puh-lease," he says one day when they're working on the plan for Mikael, "any bad guy with an accent like that just deserves to get stabbed in the heart.")

No _way. _

Tyler isn't finished thought. "Jesus, Caroline, you were _so—_you gave me so much shit for hanging out with Rebekah—and then you go and do this?"

Oh—Rebekah. That's good though, right, because Nick has never said—

Shit.

She thinks to the sister he mentioned—the one who he forgot to name and instead kept it all vague. The same sister who she complained about to him non-stop for weeks, while he sat on her bed helping her with her Chemistry homework, all with a wry smile on his face.

Holy shit there's no way that she's considering this, is there?

Not her boyfriend.

Not Nick, not Nick who loves her so much.

She shakes her head, but takes a step back. Her back hits the mantle—where she'd pressed Nick to kiss the life out of him (to stop him yelling at her)—and her brain starts spinning. Pressing a hand to her forehead she shakes it again.

"No. Nick loves me," she says in a hoarse whisper.

Tyler watches her for a moment, his jaw tight. She's not sure how he's taking her little mental breakdown, but she doesn't remotely care at the moment.

"His name is Klaus, Caroline," he says again, and she swears that this time there's actually a bit of sympathy (mixed with a fuck load of pity, by the way) in there. "Niklaus Mikaelson."

Niklaus.

Nick.

Oh god, no, please not her Nick.

"Shut up!" Caroline finally screams. "Shut up, shut up, shut _up!" _

His words are spinning through her head, the truth that she thought that she knew, mixed with the facts that Tyler is shoving at her. Klaus. Nick. Niklaus. There's no way that what he's saying has any merit, can it? Not the way that he's saying, no. Because her Nick is the perfect man—he's brilliant and he's gentle and he's compassionate. More than that, he's passionate and he's subtle and he's confident and he _loves _her.

He _loves her. _

And she loves him, so there's no way that what Tyler is saying is the truth because that just can't be it. She couldn't have fallen in love with Klaus. Not when Klaus is a monster who's terrorised her town and her family and her friends for months. No way.

She presses her hands to her temples again and pushes—she can't, she won't, this can't—no. Her head hurts and she just wants it to stop—she wants to lie down so that she can forget this day ever happened—so she can wake up to yesterday again, when she was basking in the glow of car sex and _'I love you'_s and when life was good.

"God, Caroline, Tyler finally laughs, disbelieving. "You didn't know. How the _hell _could you have not known? Are you really that dumb—?"

Her hand seals across his mouth before he can continue. She pushes him. Slams him against the wall – the same way that she'd kissed Nick that onetime—only this time she's got tears streaming down her face and her head is a mess and all she can say is _'shut up!'_ over and over again to try and get him to stop talking.

He struggles against her. He's still angry, obviously, and he doesn't want to be silenced. He wants to tell her what an idiot she is and how he can't believe that she's been duped _so _incredibly and it happens in an instant.

His teeth sink into the palm of her hand, the soft skin near the base of her thumb—and the pain that Caroline thought was the worst she'd ever experienced flies from her head as she lets out a scream of pain. She pulls away and stares at him, while Tyler, who is suddenly still, realises exactly what has just happened.

The now bleeding crescent moon in her palm of her hand swims before her eyes.

It's like being turned, and going through transition and sitting in the passenger seat of a crashing car all over again, only she's also being tortured by her dad and left out in the sun and her head is spinning and she can't see straight and it's all coming from her hand.

This time, when she falls to the floor, she feels it when her head hits. It's one more burst of pain that sets everything else off again.

Fuck it, Caroline thinks, and she lets the blackness take her.

.:.

I am a bad author. Because I've given you THAT baby of a cliff hanger, and am leaving you until I can get the next one out. I AM SO SORRY.

BUT, think of it this way folks. Use your reviews as a way to guilt trip me into hurrying up? Because with every review, I'll feel worse and worse about leaving you hanging.

SO REVIEW, and I'll try and get next chapter out as quickly as possible,

Kthanxbi you all rock.


	13. to be lonely and sad

**A/N: **I own a Loki obsession atm. And I just ordered an Ironman hard drive online. AVENGERS LOVE—GO SEE THE FILM PEOPLE.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**NB. **Caroline will be pretty out of it for most of this chapter. Just a heads up. Oh, and it'll be short. :D This is unedited. You should be aware. PS. Any avengers fans, you interested in Loki/Darcy stuff? I keep noticing striking similarities between them and Klaroline and I've got some stuff in the works? Thoughts?

.:.

"_To be lonely and sad," _

.:.

When she was sick as a little girl, with a dad who wasn't gay and a mum who wasn't emotionally unavailable, her parents would cook her pancakes for breakfast in bed, and then let her watch cartoons all day.

Understandably, Caroline was one of those kindergarten children that spent an overwhelming amount of time pretending to be sick. She would lick the palms of her hands so that she felt clammy, and she found that holding her breath made her cough those real throaty coughs. Caroline learnt early that tensing your muscles increases your body temperature, but sometimes, it was easier just to jump up and down on your bed while her mum went to get the thermometer. That it was easy to sneak downstairs and call Elena while her mum was cleaning the kitchen. Five year old Carline also knew that television was pretty much rubbish in the middle of the day, so she quickly figured out how to use the VHS player that her parents wouldn't have ordinarily let her touch. It was while she was inserting a video one day that she learned about the Miss Mystic Falls pageant.

But times changed, and Caroline learnt more. She learnt that DVD players were supposed to be easy, but were complicated enough to mean sometimes she actually had to stay in bed and do nothing when she faked being sick. She learnt that it wasn't good to not go to school, because it let people talk about her behind her back if they wanted—and that just wasn't on. And if you wanted to be Miss Mystic Falls, then you damn well had to work for it.

And then her dad left and her mum shut off and Caroline couldn't stand to be in her own house anyway.

Sick days for Caroline stopped being days off where she could play, and became something that she studiously ignored. Whenever she got really sick, she would have to be sent to the nurse and then sent home. She would never ask. And lying in bed, rolling in pain from PMS stuff, or just a bad headache that made her want to tear her eyes out only had her wishing to be healthy again.

Seriously, Caroline didn't bow to being sick. Only when she was literally on her deathbed, would she take the day off.

And that made all of this a little too ironic, didn't it?

.:.

The fever is the first to set in. Caroline wakes up in her own bed, sweating, and desperately trying to get the heavy blankets away from her. Tyler sits beside her bed and is stroking her hair, whispering apologies into her ear.

"I didn't mean it, Caroline," he tells her, and his throat is hoarse. He probably hasn't stopped saying it since she collapsed. But he's got her injured hand in his hands and he's kissing it, as though that is going to help in the slightest. As though, being closer to his venomous bite is going to _help her. _

When he realises that she's woken up, she is slightly surprised that the first thing he does is not to apologise, but is to demand to know where her phone is.

She scrunches up her nose. "Go away," is her only response, because damnit, she's dying and Tyler is only trying to convince her to turn on her boyfriend for some stupid reason. Her head is still spinning (a bit better than it was though) but she refuses to believe it. Tyler just wants to ruin her and Nick.

No. Nick is Nick. Nick is her perfect boyfriend who loves her and there is no way that she's going to betray that by considering for the remotest minute that...

But, oh Jesus, his name is part of _his _and he has a sister and all his other siblings are dead and he's got the same accent and he's made pretty sure to never meet any of her friends and oh Jesus.

"Caroline," Tyler implores, his hand cupping her pale cheek and turning her so that she's looking at him. "I'm so sorry, but I need to know where your phone is."

Caroline is shaking her head now, trying to make sure that those thoughts, doubts, horrors that she's thinking about her boyfriend won't get a solid hold. Too late, she notices, and she's so caught up in crying about that that she doesn't give any thought to telling Tyler that her phone is in the small zip pocket of the bag that she'd been carrying.

It probably fell on the porch when he tackled her, she supposes, and then she's asleep again, muttering in her sleep about love and Nick and no, no, no.

.:.

Caroline tosses her head in her sleep and Tyler closes his eyes shut so that he can't see it. He did this to her, he knows. This is his fault. Him and his stupid temper.

The temper has been with him since the moment he smelt Klaus's scent on her clothes, Saturday afternoon. Flared up and furious when he saw his sire kiss his ex-girlfriend in his car that morning. Unstoppable since his fourth bottle of bourbon, stolen from his mother's liquor cabinet.

But this is his fault. Not Caroline's—if she really didn't know who her perfect new boyfriend actually was—and not Klaus's because it wasn't his hybrid teeth that sunk into her sink. He gulps down a glass of water and spits it back out again, trying to rid his mouth of the taste of her blood.

Because that was just wrong.

He moves to the porch swiftly, and finds the small leather bag quickly enough. Sure, there's a couple of textbooks that have spilt out, and there's her phone—a iPhone 4S, if he's right, and she hasn't changed the security code since when they dated.

She has a message.

Tyler has to reach down inside himself to find someone strong enough to refrain from breaking the phone when he sees the name of the contact who has just sent her the following message.

_Can't wait love, see you tomorrow. We'll make an afternoon of it. _

He doesn't know, nor does he want to know the context of that text, but all he can see is the name 'NICK' accompanied by a cute little red love heart that makes Tyler want to throw the phone out into the road and stomp on it.

But for the moment 'NICK (loveheart)' is the only one who can fix what Tyler has done—and he's not just going to let Caroline die. Even if she's been dating Klaus.

Because she didn't know. Now that that's an option for Tyler to believe, it's all he wants. She didn't know who he was when she was dating him. She'd never met him, had she? Of course he would lie? Mix her up in his lies and untruths and—

Tyler kicks the stone steps that lead up to Caroline's house and the rock chips.

Great, something else for him to feel bad about.

Begrudgingly, he presses the 'call' icon, and lifts the phone to his ear. It takes two rings for Klaus to pick up.

"What can I do for you this evening, sweetheart?"

Tyler kicks the same stone again and sends pieces of it shattering across the grass. He'll just fucking replace it.

"Sorry to disappoint Klaus," he practically snarls down the phone. "But this isn't Caroline."

There is a pause.

(Ordinarily, even with the sire bond, Tyler would have gotten a kick out of the silence that follows. Could it be that he's actually struck the original silent?)

Then Klaus's voice is hard in his ear. "Where is she, Tyler?"

Oh no, way. He doesn't get to sound that concerned over Caroline. Not when he's been using her all this time. Maybe even compelling her—right! Compulsion!

Of _course _Caroline was compelled. Tyler's shoulder practically slump with relief, even while he gets angrier with Klaus for his actions.

"Did you really think that you would get away with it?" he demands of his sire. "She has friends and family—and you thought none of them would notice her macking with a homicidal psychopath?"

Klaus doesn't dignify him with an answer. Instead, he stonily repeats himself. "Where _is _she, Tyler?"

There is a pull of the sire bond in those words, but Tyler brushes it off. Something snaps slightly as he does, but he ignores the pull at his gut and instead shakes his head. "I don't think so, Klaus. You shouldn't have to be near her ever again. In fact, why don't you just leave? Do everyone a favour and just get the fuck out of here—"

And that's about the point when he's spun around and punched in the face, and sent reeling through the air.

.:.

Once he's recovered, Tyler notes two things. One, is that Caroline's phone is still living in his hand, uncracked, despite the fact that he's just been thrown metres across a block. And the second is that Klaus is already stalking inside Caroline's house — unhindered, because apparently he has an invitation.

Tyler is pissed about this, even if he knows that without the invitation, it would have been harder to save her life. He pushes himself from the ground where he fell and rushes inside as fast as he can.

(He's feeling a little dizzy. He's just been punched by an original, and there's an odd emptiness in his stomach that's disorientating him just a bit).

By the time he catches up, Klaus is hovering the doorway her bedroom, watching her with a look that, if Tyler didn't know better, looks like sadness. And a little bit of desperation, mixed with regret.

"What have you done?" Klaus breathes.

Tyler knows that this couple of minutes is desperate. If he's gone and ruined Klaus's plan by enlightening Caroline to his little compulsion trick, then there's every chance that Klaus won't heal her. If he doesn't need her to help anymore, will he need her alive? But still, he's pissed and he can't help the next words from slipping out.

"What have _you _done?" Tyler snaps back at him, turning all the blame to his sire. "You just been fucking with her head for the last couple of months and it's _my _fault?"

Tyler expects that he'll be greeted with another punch, or maybe another broken neck, but Klaus barely batters an eye at Tyler's remarks. He moves forward as though Tyler never opened his mouth and kneels at Caroline's bed side.

"Oh sweetheart," he mutters to her, his voice soft and gently and way _creepy_, "what did he do to you?"

Tyler fights the urge to regurgitate at the pet name. There's no way that this is real, right? Tyler kicks the thought from his head. No way.

Too weird.

This is _Klaus _that they're talking about.

Caroline stirs and her eyes flicker open. When she notices Klaus at her bedside, Tyler flinches to see the initial relief that spreads over her face. But he smiles when he notices her expression darken.

"Why are you here?" she asks hoarsely, because now there are two options.

He could be here to be with her, to hold her hand as she dies and to whisper sweet reassurances in her ear that everything's going to be okay (even when they're not). He could be there to hold her hair out of her face as she cries and to promise that he'll see her soon. He could be there to tell her that, as her eyes close for the final time, she's just going to sleep and she'll be awake and healthy again in no time. He could be there to hold her as she dies.

Or he could be here to stop her dying.

Which would be so, so much worse.

Nick's eyes flick down to look at his own hands for a moment and he avoids her eye and she knows immediately which one he is.

She wrenches her hand out of his grasp as she realises that Tyler was right. This is _Klaus. _Her perfect boyfriend is probably the most dangerous man in the world—the one who stabs his own siblings, and kills everyone she cares about. The one she dumped Tyler because of (because, let's face it, it was the sire bond that ruined everything, even if she hadn't been the one to actually do the 'dumping'). This is the vampire who kills Jenna and Jules and snapped Tyler's neck.

She lets out a dry sob and looks away.

She doesn't catch the look on Klaus's face as she turns, and neither does Tyler. He reaches for her. "I know, I'm sorry, sweetheart." He apologises, but she won't look at him. There is no way that she'll look at him. Not when his face fills all of her best memories—and is the same one that watched cities burn.

"I love you," he whispers to her, stroking her hair and quiet enough that Tyler misses it, but Caroline doesn't. "And I'm so sorry."

.:.

Tyler tenses when Klaus finally stands and turns to face him. Without flinching, Klaus grabs the glass cup that Tyler drank water from earlier, and then bites into his own wrist. The red liquid drops one, two, three—Tyler counts the drops at fifteen before he pulls his wrist away. He takes the cup and pushes it to her, where she is still sobbing into her pillow.

"Please take it Caroline," he pleads with her. "I won't come back—just please drink it."

He reaches for her again, but she bats him away. Tyler knows better than to laugh—this is not the time. Not when Caroline is so distraught and Klaus is in a mood that Tyler has absolutely never seen before. This is not a time to be rude.

Klaus sighs, and puts the cup on her bedside table. "Please, love."

"Get out." She orders. "Go away and don't come back." Her words are slurring slightly, and Tyler can tell that she's getting tired again, but he is more focused on the physical recoil of Klaus—as though her words have punched him in the gut.

His face softens when he steps back, out of her line of site, and she reaches for the cup of his blood. She downs it quickly, muttering how she doesn't know why she doesn't want to die, before she puts the cup back.

The sleep takes over her before her hand is back in her own bed.

There is a slight pause as both the hybrids watch her for a moment. Tyler chooses this moment to speak up.

"I won't let you hurt her again." He says stonily.

For the first time, Klaus exhibits a little more than just distress. He turns to Tyler, and suddenly there's no such thing as personal space. "I wouldn't be so confident that you can get between us, Mr. Lockwood," he snarls, and Tyler takes a terrified step backwards. This is the Original vampire, after all. "You may have broken the sire bond, but you are not of that greater importance and I would not hesitate to kill you, were it not for her."

Tyler swallows. Sire bond? It's broken?

Suddenly the empty freeness in his stomach makes more sense than it had before. That was all it took? Fury on Caroline's behalf, fury for that betrayal, and he could break a sire bond?

The revelation gives him confidence. Tyler pushes himself tall and stares into Klaus's eyes evenly, glad that he and the original are about equal, height wise.

"She deserves better than you," he tells Klaus, getting ready for a fight.

In a mood swing that would do women around the world proud, Klaus takes a step back and turns to look at Caroline. It's intriguing how, even when turning down a fight, Klaus can do it in an intimidating fashion. The confidence is more terrifying than the fury, Tyler decides.

But it's only regret that Tyler hears with Klaus's next words. "I was better around her."

.:.

**A/N: **I admit that I am a shitty author. It took me an age to get the chapter to my editor, but I haven't been able to get in touch with her. I've decided to publish the chapter edited by myself, so here's my apology for being a shitty editor—I'm sure there are mistakes that you guys are going to point out to me and feel free. :P

I will have chapter fourteen for you up by the end of the week. Edited or non-edited, I promise, because you guys deserve way more from me, especially with the response I'm getting from this fic.

Thank you so much for your dedication, peeps. I owe you all a billion.


	14. window by window, you try and look into

**A/N: **I possess a well read copy of '_The Perks of Being a Wallflower' _and a brand new TARDIS shaped mug. From which, I am drinking hot chocolate right now. Because down under, in AU of Stralia, it's winter—and it's fucking cold. Other than that, however, I own nothing.

This is an AU Klaroline fic, wherein Caroline meets Klaus and falls for him, not knowing that he is, in fact, _Klaus. _Oh, the drama.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**NB. **To those of you who are worried about my update. This time, I truly have no excuse for you, save for that I couldn't get the words to come out right. This is probably the most dedicated to a fic I've ever been, and I have an Indiana Jones fic that's been WIP for nearly four years. I'm not saying that I'm going to let that happen to this one, I'm just saying that I would much rather make you wait for _good _chapters, over writing quickly and spurting out a crapload of well, _crap. _And you should know that it really isn't uncommon to wait a month for my updates.

Now that I've written this, I'm going to watch _The Breakfast Club___and work on chapter 15. Also, I still haven't heard from my Beta, so this is edited of my own eye. Any plot discrepancies, and/or shitty grammar—feel free to call me about.

.:.

"_Window by window you try and look into," _

.:.

The first painting comes that night. She has just woken up and only just worked up the energy to move from her bed and fix herself a hot cocoa, and she returns to her bed to see it sitting on her pillow. Her features, delicately sketched, and coloured as if illuminated by candlelight. The parchment is soft and rough, and he's clearly done it in charcoal. She recalls when he told her that he was a good enough painter—he'd had good teachers.

She errantly wonders who it was that taught him. Picasso, perhaps? Van Gogh? Da Vinci? Maybe he knew who the woman in the Mona Lisa was.

Then she realises what she's thinking and what this painting means. It's barely been a day and that _monster _has snuck into her room and done this? As though painting her face is the way to her? For what? What does he want?

Her forgiveness? Her love? Her help? Her connections to the people who he seeks to hurt?

It's the latter, she thinks. It must be. There is no other reason for him to have been wasting so much time with her. Well, she thinks, setting her cocoa down (and not lobbing it across the room at the window like she really wants to) she's not going to help him hurt her friends. Hopefully Tyler caught on to the charade early enough that she hasn't given anything away.

She lifts the painting gingerly from the pillow, at the edges—she's careful not to touch more of it than she has to—and she moves to the window. Pushing the panes outwards, she suddenly thinks that he might be watching—there's a feeling on the back of her neck that tells her that's the case. She doesn't let this thought betray her though, and keeps her face stony.

She tears the parchment in two, then four, then eight before she throws the pieces out into the cold night air.

.:.

The next morning, she realises that the portrait was actually her art homework that she was supposed to hand in. Great. She's his charity case now.

Still, she doesn't get that same feeling on her neck when she opens the window and fetches the eight pieces. They're damp and some of the lines have run, but she tapes them back together as best she can and copies his heavy lines onto another piece of canvas.

He took so much from her, this is the least he can do. Once she's finished the copy, it doesn't quite glow like his did. So she instead hands in the taped together pieces of his during her Tuesday art class.

(It doesn't feel like everything happened on one Monday, but it did and life must go on).

Her teacher returns it the next day and gives her an A. She says that she really liked the way that Caroline portrayed herself in the torn canvas—a young girl who's falling apart.

Caroline takes a sick day, goes home and curls up in her bed. She doesn't go back to school on Thursday or Friday. She only gets up in the afternoon because her friends pay her a visit.

It is with a grand flourish of her hand that Elena enters Caroline's bedroom (such an uncharacteristically flamboyant gesture that Caroline knows is only for her benefit), a sports bag and a sleeping bag over one shoulder with Bonnie at her heels. She dumps the two bags at her feet (and Bonnie, who is carrying similar packages does the same) before the two girls drop themselves on Caroline's bed and crawl up near her.

"It is time," Elena declares loudly (and far too upbeat for a girl who's seen everything that she has seen) "for an all girl's sleepover, where boys are not allowed, so that we three can bond again and remember why we hate boys and all their boyishness while they are not allowed."

Caroline allows herself to crack a smile. Elena is only so enthusiastic to try and make Caroline laugh (a tactic that Caroline is usually the one to employ) so Caroline lets her have this one.

(Only barely, though, you see. In the last couple of days she's been on a very strict regimen of crying, sleeping and ignoring all signs of life around her. She suspects that maybe Liz has clued in her two friends to Caroline's state and sent in the cavalry).

Elena notes that her statement has made Caroline smile slightly, but not enough and sighs. She sobers, shifting her body so that she can lie down next to Caroline and share the pillow. Together they stare up at the ceiling of Caroline's bedroom.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks softly, shifting her gaze so that she's looking at her blonde best friend.

Caroline keeps her gaze firmly stuck to the ceiling, but manages to keep the tears in while shaking her head slightly. She's not going to risk saying anything, for worry that her voice might break or sound hoarse and disgusting.

Bonnie shifts as well, and looks down at her. "Would you like to avoid it?" As she says this, she pulls out a range of very depressing films about love gone wrong. The Notebook, Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge, The Titanic, etc.

Again, Caroline shakes her head.

Bonnie and Elena exchange a glance before trying one last time. "Would you like to watch many, many hot men getting beat up and killed brutally?"

Elena holds up some more DVDs (The Immortals, The Gladiator, and a list of other B-rate (here meaning BAD-rate) movies with swords and death and gore).

Caroline smiles wider than she has in two days and nods her head, thanking god that at least she's been given some brilliant friends who just _totally _get her.

.:.

The second and the third paintings come in the two hour break during which all three girls go out for snack. They return to Caroline's home to see the two images resting against the mantle (yeah, _the mantle),_ and looking so natural there that Caroline doesn't notice them initially.

Elena does, as a matter of fact.

"Oh, my god, Care—did you do those?"

Caroline is confused for a minute before she sees them. Her previously (and hard won) relaxed smile vanishes as she takes them in.

It's a painting of her at the bar, in the Grille, the first day that they met. When none of her friends had been around to tell her that she was meeting with and flirting with Klaus, THE big bad. She wonders if he planned it that way. But still, there she is, sitting in the booth, sipping from her drink and looking sour about her life.

How had he managed to make her glow?

Elena has pulled the other one down from the mantle and is looking at it closely. It's a picture of the city of New York, the view from their hotel balcony. He's added little details, like her blazer strung across the chair out on the balcony, and her reflection in the closed glass door that he's included to one side. Caroline feels as though she's been pushed back into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed that they'd shared, and is really seeing everything all over again.

It makes her want to throw up.

"Is this where you stayed?" Elena asks, her eyes wide.

Caroline swallows down the urge to vomit (even though, technically, she can't—because she's a vampire and vampire's don't _vomit_) and tries to take the painting from Elena as calmly as she can. She reaches for the other one, and lifts them high, ready to tear them to pieces as well before both Bonnie and Elena shout their protests.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asks quickly.

Caroline swallows slightly, eyes blurring as she looks at her friends. "Nick left." She says suddenly, and it's the most open she's been with them to point. They both seem to get it. "He turned into this other guy and my Nick vanished. And I don't want to be reminded of my Nick, when he's still out there and acting like a whole other person."

Vague enough. Also, reminds her slightly of the Angel Buffy analogy when they had sex and Angel lost his soul.

(Speaking of, Caroline has made a couple of decisions about those activities. Caroline knows what it is to be compelled, and she knows that she wasn't. Just as she had decided in the case with Damon—she had been willing for the sex. She may have been compelled to forget the feeding and his vampiric state at the time, but she could remember everything now and she _knew _that Damon had never forced her into sex. He was old, and hot and the _other Salvatore brother _and she had been more than happy to get physical. The same under these circumstances—she was a willing participant and therefore she refuses to put what happened between her and Nick in the category of _rape._ Sure as hell, she's still pissed off as ever, and she's happy to admit that he used her—but it isn't _rape. _Because she loved him and he said he loved her).

Elena takes the paintings from Caroline's now shaking hands. "Don't ruin them, Care," she says gently, placing them down on the coffee table that Nick and Caroline used to do her homework on. "He may have changed—but your memories are good ones. And you don't get rid of all your good memories because he changed later on."

Caroline is pretty sure that that's exactly what you do. Especially when thinking about those memories made her flush with humiliation—how could she not have _known? _

But she isn't going to win this fight tonight. So she ignores the two paintings and settles down on the corner of the couch that is furthest from them. As Elena slips them into a drawer of the coffee table, Caroline makes a mental note to destroy them once the other two are asleep.

(she forgets).

.:.

The road to recovery is a long one, Caroline learns. With the movie marathons and the gore and the vicious angry verbal abuse that they've sent to the male population, Caroline thinks that maybe she should be a little less angry with Klaus for the moment. After all, she's already expressed all of it. But it seems that in this case, her fury is endless. When Tyler comes by to see how she's coping with everything, Caroline shocks both Elena and Bonnie by giving him a good knuckle sandwich and slamming the door in his face.

(It's probably a good thing that they witnessed it with Tyler though, because they know very quickly to urge Matt away when he comes around half an hour later to see how she's doing).

But her friends are brilliant, and they totally understand. Getting that Caroline really doesn't want to talk about what it is that so royally fucked up her 'perfect' relationship, the two girls instead focus on explaining exactly why their own love lives are so doomed to fail.

And complaining about Damon and Stefan is easy.

("What gives him the damn right to act like this?" Elena is demanding furiously. "I don't care if he's always been the bad brother—Damon should know that at some stage, he's going to have to grow up."

"Hear, bloody hear." Caroline lifts a toast of the raspberry vodka that she's compelled a sales clerk to sell her and takes a long draw.

She goes on to flinch when she realises that she's getting a weird look from Elena and it's probably because for some reason she's adopted _his _stupid bloody British slang.

_Damnit._)

They even let their awkward barrier break down, and Elena even joins in when Bonnie finally spills about how betrayed and furious she feels regarding the whole Jeremy situation. It's a good lot of old fashioned boy bashing and there's nothing that could have made her feel better than this.

Still, they have to get past it eventually.

Of all the men around them, it's Damon and Alaric who clue in first—as to what the three girls have been doing for the last day and a half. Drinking and bitching has always and will always come easily to any woman in the world, and they both seem to know it. Damon even tones down the crazy douche-nozzle behaviour for a couple of days following—not keen to get on anyone's bad side.

When they all have to work together, they end up focusing on the pictures of the cave drawings. Damon begins to teach Elena ways to fight, which seems to help her work out her aggression, and Bonnie buries herself in working with Alaric to figure out what this all means. And, in their merry group of scoobies, that means Caroline is left with one person.

She's hunting a deer in the forest when Stefan pops up out of nowhere, scaring the game away and convincing her that douchey shit head Stefan is a perfect target for her aggression.

"I hear that you've had problems with your perfect boyfriend." Stefan remarks casually, as though Caroline _isn't _attempting to murder him with her eyes.

As with any moment that anyone mentions her perfect EX-boyfriend, Caroline feels a thrill of fear that they might have figured out its Klaus. Now that she's downright refusing to even think about the Original vampire who messed with her head and fucked with her life, she's worried that he might just tell the whole town—just to fuck with her some more.

She shrugs the concerns away. Stefan wouldn't be as subtle about it if he knew.

"I heard you have problems with your sanity," she snaps back.

He chuckles.

Shit head.

She stalks away from him, deciding that if she can't get the deer, she might as well find a rabbit or something that she can drink from. Damon's running out of blood bags, and while she's said she's happy to help (read: be distracted) Damon's not going back to the hospital for another week. She moves through the trees silently, her eyes searching out the small grey creatures.

Stefan follows, making a point to tread heavily.

She spins around, and before she can even think about it, she's shouting.

"Jesus, _no wonder_ you were friends with Klaus. You're such a fucking asshole."

As she expects, Stefan doesn't take this well. Sure, he's under compulsion and he's been travelling the world with Klaus for a couple of months before this (well, it's not like it was a trip to New York and a mile high orgasm on the top of the empire state building, though).

(Or at least, Caroline really hopes not).

But Stefan is by no means some drone, and the implication that he's friends with the monster who's made him this is not something he takes lightly. He rushes her and has an elbow pressed at her throat before she can even contemplate stopping him.

But she's angry so she finds it easier than she might have before to push him away from her. She's stomping in the opposite direction when Stefan snarls. "Klaus and I were not _friends._" He snaps.

Caroline rolls her eyes and keeping moving. "Whatever," is all she says as she moved forward.

Stefan catches up and spins her around, a firm grasp on her upper arm. "Caroline—listen to me. Klaus is toxic. He's not _anyone's _friend."

Caroline pushes him off her again but this time holds her ground. She likes this—this venting process—it's nice to know that she's not the only one who's been fucked over by Klaus's illusion of a relationship.

"Then why did you spend a decade of your life with him?" she demands.

He flinches, and his scowl deepens. "I spent three years with him because I thought his sister looked _fuckable. _He messed with my head."

She squares him with a glare. "Right, because you're head is working perfectly right now."

No matter how happy she is to hate all the Originals ever created in the world, she is surprisingly angry at hearing how he addresses Rebekah. Sure she's a bitch and she hates his brother (because he's the devil incarnate) but no one deserves to be talked about like that.

If she didn't know that this wasn't really Stefan (and most of this machismo act was a front so that no one could see how much Damon and Elena's evolving relationship bothered him) Caroline would have just been done with the youngest of the Salvatores.

As it is, she knows that this isn't Stefan. Not the young man (old vampire) who taught her how to drink from animals and control the bloodlust. Not the man who loved Elena so entirely, and not the brother who loved Damon more than that.

She turns on her heel and runs. She'll hunt tomorrow.

.:.

The fourth picture comes when she gets back from the mansion. She's pissed and she's still embarrassed and she's irritable because Damon and Elena were inadvertently being all cute in front of her (even though Elena insists all he was doing was showing her where to put the stake when stabbing a vampire).

And for god's sake, she's so not in the mood.

She's barely had time to register that this picture is one of her sitting on her own couch, doing her homework like they used to.

(She realises that she finds comfort in the fact that every picture so far has been a memory—and not something that she's done in the last couple of days. These portraits are very obviously from his direct perspective—like in this one, you can see his knee, and his reflection in one of the photographs on the wall. At least he isn't stalking her).

(You know, aside from the putting paintings in her house when she's not around. Which is a little creepy).

But at the same time, the fact that it's a memory only serves to make her more angry. Furious, even. How dare he send her paintings of times when she trusted him wholly—the whole time while he betrayed her and used her? How dare he act as though this is what he wanted—and not some nefarious scheme?

She's angry and tired enough that she grabs all three paintings and storms out the door before she even really knows what she's doing.

She has her phone to her ear and is dialling Tyler's number before she can even really thinks about it.

"Caroline? How are you? What's going on? Are you going to yell at me or hit me again—?"

"—Where is the mansion?" she demands.

There is a pause.

"What—Caroline, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," she snaps at him. "Tell me where the mansion is."

She can practically see Tyler shaking his head. "Caroline, I don't know what you're doing, but Klaus is a bad guy—you don't want to—"

"Don't tell me what to do," she interrupts him again. "And if Klaus wanted me dead, I would be dead—remember—you bit me and he had to come and save me?"

"Caroline, that's not fair."

"Just tell me where the _fucking mansion _is."

.:.

She raps on the door so hard that the wood dents, and her fingers sting a little, but she doesn't pay any mind. In the same fist she used to knock are the three painting. "Easy," she hears his voice from behind the door. "I've been renovat—"

He swings the door open to see her and stops mid word. It kills her to see Nick's smile is on his face, but it fades when he sees her. A wariness enters his eyes that makes her want to yell and scream some more at him but she takes a deep breath.

All in good time.

"Can I come in?" she snaps loudly (her voice just a little too shrill for it to be too impressive). She doesn't wait for him to respond and shoves him harshly to the side, stalking inside her house. "Thanks."

He closes the door behind them both and watches her closely. He doesn't move from the door—in fact, his hand stay close on the handle.

"Caroline," is all he says.

And that in itself is enough to fucking set her off.

She throw the papers in his face, wishing that maybe the canvas would paper cut his face or something before she remembers that he's a vampire and a knife wouldn't paper cut his face without the right amount of pressure—and also that they're pieces of paper, so when she throws them, all they really do is float to the ground.

But, she finds, even if that affect is ruined, she's still screaming at him and that's a good way to go.

"How _dare _you?!" She shrieks at him, eyes blazing in a way that she hopes looks like Damon's crazy eyes and not her own terrified, humiliated eyes. "You don't get to do this, you _asshole. _You don't get to manipulate me, and use me, and then try and buy me back with some shitty little drawings. I may not have caught you the first time you were trying to trick me, but I'm sure as hell not stupid enough to fall it again."

He smiles slightly to himself and she wants to kick him in the eyeballs.

"Never said you were, love."

_Oh hell no. _

"MY NAME IS CAROLINE." She screeches, realising that she pretty much lost all her dignity when she spread her legs from him in New York, and there's not much more to losing some now. "Don't you throw that in my face. You can take your cliché British pet names and shove them up your _ass, _mister, because I don't want them. You think it's not already humiliating that I totally fell for you when you were just having me on? You want to add some wood to the fire? Well, _fuck off _because I'm done with it. I'm done with you and I'm done with your stupid fucking pictures. See you at homecoming you fucking asshole."

Then she's pushing past him again to get out the front door and she barely has time to hear 'See you!' before she's slammed the door shut and stormed away, tears already streaming from her face.

Fuck off. She's handling it just fine.

.:.

**A/N:**

**1) **Regarding what might be a point of discussion for you readers, I mentioned my opinion on the Damon/Caroline season 1 situation. I've been seeing a lot of this 'Caroline can't be friends with Damon until he apologises for raping her' around the interweb and I thought I would interject how I feel about it. (Sorry if you guys think that Caroline's voice was not the way to go about doing that). BUT, I never saw any element of rape from Damon in season 1. I rewatched the episodes, just to make sure I'm not talking out my ass, and Caroline is in bed, on the way to doing the deed, with Damon when he goes to bite her. Meaning she was a more than willing participant until that point, right? I don't know. It's always been my opinion that they may have had sex during that time, but he was only compelling her to keep the secrets and not tell anyone about the feeding. I mean, she was clearly interested in Damon—but beyond the fact that I think she was willing for it, the fact that they even had sex was kind of open to interpretation, right?

I dunno. Feel free to chew me out for that little speil. I'll work on keeping the personal opinions (rants) out of it. Sorry.

Only the chapter, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter. It was always in the plan to incorporate some of the canon lovey dovey stuff that he did, so I brought the paintings in—but to me this chapter is just a little bit too 'fillery' for me. But, on the other hand, I needed to bring it in because obviously, Caroline's having a hard time taking all this stuff in and I really wanted to express that. She's in 'volotile/hurt' mode and I needed you guys to see her like that.

Hum. Well, let me know anyway. Reviews are from heaven, and you are the angels. :P (Been watching a little bit of Supernatural season four, what of it?) **xx**


	15. this brave new you that you are

**A/N:** In my possession are: a new shift timetable for work, a new vest that I'm going to wear to my friend's birthday party on Saturday and a shit load of scarves, because (I might have mentioned it last chapter, but it needs to be said again) over here in Australia, it's getting _fucking cold. _You may have none of that, seeing as I _need _it—but other than that, sue me all you like. Because I own none of the characters, sets or etc. that you may recognise.

(I am no longer going to put the summary in the top author's notes, because this site is suddenly a little bit fancy, and does that all by itself. I have, for you lovely persons benefit, attempted to make a cover for it. VAIR SIMPLE FOLKS, because, let's face it, I'm good with words—(I hope :/)—not graphics.

All chapter quotes for to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala Broadway).

**NB: **I have recently learned three things. One, my muse is flighty, and a bit of a bitch, so she comes and goes. I will try to update quicker. Two, you are all the most brilliant, dedicated readers I could have ever asked for when I started writing this story and. Three, that I made a mistake earlier in mentioning that Caroline invited Nick/Klaus into her home, because DUH SAM, she's a vampire and she can't do that anymore. Let us just forget that doozy, say that Liz did it, and be done with it, while I scrawl through the earlier chapters and try to find where I mentioned it, kay?

Oh, and FOUR, _Community_ the television sitcom is the shizbiscuit of all television sitcoms and you should all go and watch it. After reading this, of course.

**PS. **UNBETA'D. YOU ARE HEADED INTO UNBETA'D TERRITORY. (plez inform me of any mistakes you might locate, so I can fix that with immediates).

.:.

"_This brave new you that you are," _

.:.

Later on, when the blind rage has subsided somewhat, and all that's left for the moment is a combination of horrendous humiliation and bitter resentment, Caroline starts to think about whether or not her being with Nick was a betrayal of her friends trust.

Until that point, Caroline has adamantly believed that she can't be held responsible for dating the man she knew as Nick, because hello—the guy went by Klaus most of the time and she'd never actually seen his face.

But now that all the evidence is right in front of her face, Caroline has to face the facts.

Number one, he was a vampire and she'd known about it. A random, _old_, vampire who wasn't keen on sharing anything about his personal life had come to Mystic Falls, swept her off her feet and she hadn't even considered that something might be up?

Caroline begins to think that maybe Damon's nicknames for her have some merit after all, because really? What a _moronic _move.

Beyond that though, Caroline had trusted him. This unfamiliar vampire that she shouldn't have ever spoken to (let alone the range of other inappropriate things she'd let him do to her—not that she hadn't reciprocated—but that isn't the point—nor is it something that will ever become knowledge of the public domain. Because, uhm, hello?) had managed to sneak his way into her head and she had told him things.

She remembers sitting on her bed, making out with him and complaining about Klaus and Rebekah between kisses. She remembers just complaining about Klaus, a lot. There was a good chance that Caroline had been inadvertently feeding information to the enemy for months now.

And, '_see you at homecoming, you fucking asshole?'_

Really, Caroline? Really?

For starters, she'd thought she would be a little more posh under pressure, or whatever—but that's not the point she's been focusing on. Because at least before she had an excuse for spilling the beans. She was a moron, clearly, and hadn't been able to figure out, in her own little brain, that new random vampire showing up around the same time as Klaus equals _bad_.

But mentioning homecoming to him? She'd definitely known who he was when she'd been screaming at him about a week previously. Unknowingly telling him everything was bad enough, but knowing who he was and shouting at him about homecoming?

She might as well have said: 'We're going to try and kill you soon. I'm going to dance when it happens. You are an asshole. Adieu."

Well, at least she got the 'asshole' bit in.

She tries not to think about it as she drives to school the next day but the idea stays on her mind. As she pulls into the Gilbert driveway, and Elena jumps in, shotgun, Caroline can't even help it.

"What would you do if one of us started to side with Klaus?" She asked, totally randomly, right before she winces. It's called tact, she reminds herself.

Elena looks startled at the question, and frowns slightly.

Caroline hastens to explain.

"Not that I think anyone would—or anything," she begins to blabber incoherently. "And not even sided—I just mean—what if someone was kidnapped, and he tortured them and they gave away or plan or something?"

Elena continues to watch her with a confused frown, but doesn't seem suspicious at all. Well, no. She does seem suspicious. But it doesn't feel like accusatory suspicion. It's not like Elena's sitting next to her, sending out vibes like 'holy shit why did we ever trust Caroline in the first place, that backstabbing bitch?' Instead, the vibes are more like 'what the hell is wrong with Caroline this time and why on earth is she asking me this?'

Which, you know, is fair enough.

Still, confused or not, Elena would feel rude not answering.

"If they were tortured?" Elena asks, verifying the scenario Caroline has just constructed. "I can't expect someone to endure pain just to help me." She says, in her typical martyr-like fashion (one of the main reasons why Caroline loves her so much). "I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone."

Elena's head is clearly trying to answer the questions about this conversation while she talks, and her eyes widen when she draws a conclusion.

"Oh, god—has something happened? Caroline, what's going on?"

Caroline moves quickly to reassure her. "Nothing, nothing." She says hastily. "I'm just—I'm worried, you know." Elena doesn't look convinced. Damn. "I mean—he's a bad guy, right? Torture probably isn't all that out there for him."

Elena suddenly looks terrified, like she's trying to mentally conjure up images for every person she knows who's involved. Caroline can pretty much see who she's thinking about, according to the looks of escalating horror on her friends face. Rick, Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan and Damon,_ Jeremy. _

Caroline feels she's really not helping keep her friend in good health.

"Look, don't worry about it." She says quickly. "I was just wondering—I mean—I held out pretty well when my dad was torturing me, so I reckon I'd manage for a while, at least." Caroline neglects to mention the crying and the screaming that she could still remember vividly. Not that it was her fault or anything—but you know—not her finest hour.

Elena suddenly looks sympathetic. "Oh—Caroline, don't think about that. I'm so sorry."

Caroline brushes the apology off. She turns the corner into the school car park and stops, waiting in the line of traffic—students all looking for an easy access miracle of a park.

"So," Caroline tries to segue casually. "I was thinking that he might try to get information other ways, you know? Compulsion and tricks and stuff?"

Not super smooth, but Elena doesn't seem to notice.

Instead she frowns some more, contemplating Caroline's words. "Klaus likes the mind games." She says, not noticing Caroline's responding flinch. She'd been trying to refrain by using his name out loud. Especially when his face still came up as Nick in her head. "I wouldn't put that past him."

"So then what?" Caroline asks. "What if someone spilt the beans because he tricked them? Would you be mad?"

Okay, _now _Elena looks suspicious.

"Why?" She asks immediately. "Did something happen?"

At least it's concerned suspicion, Caroline reasons with herself. That's better than nothing. Still, the go to move is perfect.

"No!" Caroline denies with a heart scoff for extra effect. "Jeez, Elena—I'm just asking?"

Caroline indignant response is done well, and Elena relaxes slightly, which of course, only makes Caroline feel more shit about her life. Why was she such a good liar? It was a burden, trust her.

Elena sighs. "Of course I wouldn't be mad," Elena said. "Klaus—" another wince "—is an original vampire. He would be able to trick almost anyone."

Caroline relaxes slightly, and grins when they finally come across one of the last free parks. Good, so at least Elena won't hate her if the truth is revealed. Bonnie was another hurdle, and she'd have to deal with some really painful snarky comments from Damon but that's the least she can handle for a mistake this fucking colossal. She pulls the small car into the free space and parks, trying not to let her relief become too obvious.

Elena lets out a light chuckle. "But we'd have to make sure we keep them away from Mikael." She turns a serious look in Caroline's direction as she undoes her seat belt. "I met him yesterday afternoon," she says. "He's pretty terrifying."

Fuck.

.:.

Tyler catches her just as the lunch bell is sounding, and Caroline can't exactly clobber him in front of all these witnesses, so she settles for shifting her weight to one hip and glaring at him, Molly Weasley style.

For his part, he looks a bit intimidated, but Caroline has to be at least a little impressed that he's dared to come speak to her at all.

He is, pretty much, the person she's focusing all her rage on these days.

"Are you alright?" He asks immediately, making it a little more difficult to really hate the guy.

But still, he's the one who shattered her perfect illusion with Nick. Not to mention he fucking bit her with his toxic werewolf teeth, which meant that she had to ask for help from the guy who had been fucking her over for the last couple of months. Thank god she'd been pretty much hallucinating for most of that encounter, and unconscious for the rest.

The fucking humiliation if she'd been awake might have been enough to warrant getting Tyler to bite her again, just to end her own pathetic existence.

So she scoffs at the question. "Oh, don't even, Tyler." She says, as she attempts to side step around him.

He grabs her arms to stop her from moving, but pulls back as soon as he sees the deadly expression crawl onto her face. "Sorry," he apologises, before she can get her well worded, _very creative _threats out into the open air.

"What are you apologising for, exactly?" She snarls at him. "Manhandling me here? Manhandling me in my kitchen? Or biting me? Because all three are fond memories I like to hold onto."

Tyler at least has the decency to look a little ashamed at that one. His gaze drops to his feet and he shuffles slightly, awkward.

"I'm sorry," is all he says again. His face darts up and he looks into her eyes. "Seriously Caroline—I really messed it up."

Caroline is the one to shuffle slightly, folding her arms across her chest defensively. She sighs in the face of his sincerity.

"You can say that again," she mutters, not meeting his eye.

Tyler nods his head hurriedly. "I did. I mean—I will. I really fucked everything up Caroline, and I just made things more difficult."

Damnit, this is so not what she needed right now. She knows exactly what he's talking about—what those _things _are that he's talking about—and she's been trying valiantly to keep it off her mind.

No such luck, it appears. Nic—damnit, _Klaus's_ face swims before her eyes and she defiantly refuses to tear up. No way, she screams at herself. Not in the middle of the school hallway, where she can see Jessica and other people from the homecoming committee watching her exchange with Tyler with interest.

Did they not have their own pathetic lives to get back to?

Begrudgingly, Caroline sighs and turns back to Tyler. "Yeah well," she gets out with a grimace. "I guess I've made some mistakes pretty recently—all of which you were kind of enough to enlighten me to." She frowned. "Even if you could have been nicer about it."

Tyler cringes and despite what she's just said, it makes Caroline smile.

"About that," Tyler says slowly. "Have you—are you alright?" he asks again.

Caroline smiles bleakly, trying to convey that no, she is not alright, but damnit all to hell, she's trying. Seeing his responding look tells her that Tyler didn't quite get it and she sighs.

"No," she vocalises her thoughts instead. "I'm not. But I'm trying."

Tyler smiles, like he's proud of her for at least that. Pshh, she wasn't doing this for him? She wasn't even doing this to get back at Nick—damnit, _Klaus_. She was doing this because if she didn't do this, she'd eventually tear herself apart. And she needed to be alright again.

Which was only going to happen, if, hopefully, she and Tyler can work some things out.

"I guess I need to talk to you anyway," Caroline says tiredly.

Tyler looks apprehensive. Caroline recalls the satisfying feeling of her knuckles smashing into his cheek and decides his is a good move. Girl power, and such.

"About the whole _Klaus_ thing." She says, leaning forward to whisper, even though all the people around her have no idea who Klaus is, and Elena and Bonnie aren't anywhere to be seen. "You know that you can't tell anyone, right?"

Tyler looks at her, surprised. "What? I thought you'd broken it off." He's frowning now.

Whatever. Who gives a shit that he's frowning? Caroline stares at him, genuinely offended at his inference? Seriously? _Seriously?_ He thought that she would just forgive and forget and keep dating _Klaus_ now that she knew who he was? Jesus, did Tyler not know her at all? Even _Klaus _knew that wasn't going to happen.

"No." She said indignantly, swatting at his shoulder with more force than it looks. He flinches away from the hit. "Oh, my god—what the hell, Tyler?"

He rubs his arm slightly, frowning. "I don't know—why does it need to be a secret then?" he asks.

Okay, no. Caroline decides. He's definitely the moron between the two of them. Her past crimes notwithstanding.

"Because," she says through clenched teeth, struggling to keep her voice low. "If anyone finds out—Damon will kill me. Or Stefan," she adds as an afterthought. "He's just kind of in a murdering place right now."

Tyler's mouth forms an 'O' as he figures it out. "Right," he says shortly. "Got it."

Caroline rolls her eyes.

"So don't tell anyone." She says again, the threat clear in her voice. His bite may have been toxic, but it took more effort on his part to bite her than it took for her to lift him up and throw him somewhere. Not that this hypothetical fight in her head was to the death or anything. Yikes, she's gotten violent.

Yeah, well, she reasons, when she makes that observation. Dating mass murderers will do that to you. Or serial killers. Apparently there's a difference—but Caroline can't be bothered to figure it out. The point is she had been dating a crazy person who killed people.

Tyler nods anyway, oblivious to the imaginary conflict that was going on in Caroline's head. "I won't tell anyone, Caroline." He says. "As long as you promise that you'll tell me what's going on between you and him."

Caroline narrows her eyes at him. "I can take care of that by myself, thank you very much." She snipes.

Tyler isn't having it. "You need to have at least one person know what's going on between you and him, Care." He says, more serious than she's seen him in a long time. "He's dangerous."

Duh-doy, she thinks.

But yeah, he's got a point.

"Fine," she caves reluctantly. "Can I go now?"

Tyler goes for the hug before she can get in an arm to stop him. Once he's there, arms around her, Caroline is surprised to find that it's providing more than a little bit of comfort. Tyler smells like the old days and life when it wasn't so complicated. The days when she'd been smitten with the werewolf he was, and not annoyed by the hybrid he'd been turned into. It's nice to be thrown back to those days.

But worse than that, the hug is terrible. Because even if it's warm and inviting and comforting, it's not Nick—and for the last few days, that's all Caroline wants. She just wants Nick to come back, her Nick, and for this whole Klaus thing to be a nightmare.

Tyler lets go and Caroline suddenly feels more alone than ever.

.:.

Of course, her school is a high school, and in high schools, gossip spreads like wildfire. Jessica and the other girls had been watching Caroline as she hugged Tyler—after what looked to be a very serious conversation, so naturally, by the end of the school day, rumours that she's pregnant with his baby and they've decided to keep it are far and abound.

Thank god, Caroline thinks as she walks through the crowd of wide eyed freshman, that she at least has sensible friends who won't believe that rubbish.

Elena meets her at her car, Bonnie in tow.

"You're back together with Tyler?" they both demand as soon as she steps into sight.

For the love of god.

"No!" Caroline says, noting that her incidence for being indignant had definitely gone up today.

Bonnie goes to ask another question, but it dies on her lips when Caroline adds, "and I'm not having his baby, either."

Elena rolls her eyes. "We never thought you were."

Something in their eyes tells Caroline that there was at least a little doubt when they'd discussed the matter. So much for friends. Still, gossip is gossip. And theirs is a small town. She won't be surprised if her mother comes home tonight, demanding answers and holding out a pregnancy test.

Caroline is the designated driver for the afternoon, and she's happy to silently drive while Bonnie and Elena chat conversationally beside (and technically, behind—Bonnie had called shot gun so Elena had been relegated to backseat,) her.

They pull up at the Salvatore mansion after a couple of minutes, and Caroline parks the car right in front of the closed garage door—out of the way if other cars needed somewhere to park. Rick's car wasn't there to be seen yet, so at least they'd beaten him.

Caroline prepares herself for a moment of the pretty much to be expected doe eye exchange in the Damon/Elena/Stefan saga, and shares a predetermined look with Bonnie when the door swings open.

"Children," Stefan greets them, a cold smile on his face that makes all three girls shudder (yah, even the vampire, shut up). Why is it that Stefan acting like Damon is so much creepier than when Damon acts like Damon? "Come in. We have guests."

Suddenly less casual, Elena steps inside first, followed by Bonnie and Caroline. They move down the hallway slowly, while Stefen closes the door behind them. Damon is standing at the end of the corridor, scotch glass in hand, and smirking.

"Blondie," he greets Caroline as he catches her eye. "Sure it's safe for you to be here?"

For one terrifying moment, Caroline thinks that Damon's figured it all out. Holy heck, what if their guest is Klaus, come to spill the beans about his and Caroline's torrid, totally mind game-y, love affair and bitch with them all about what a traitor she is. But Damon interprets her 'caught in the headlights' look to be confusion and chuckles.

"I hear you've got a furry little bun in the oven." He points out with another trademark smirk.

Furry little bun in the oven? What the—?

Oh. _Son of a bitch._

News travels fast in this town.

Caroline shoots Damon the 'Forbes-woman-stink-eye' and pushes roughly past him. He doesn't mind because Elena has rolled her eyes at Damon and told him not to be mean, which has somehow turned into the two of them mooning at each other.

Bonnie rolls her eyes now and joins Caroline.

"Who's this mysterious guest then, Stefan?" Caroline asks, calmer than she had been when she'd walked through the door. Damon snark, if nothing else, reminded her that she was in a familiar place.

"Ladies," Stefan drawls, appearing again at the opposite side of the lounge. Beside him, Caroline now notes, is a tall man, with blonde, neatly cut hair—and his back turned to them. "You've heard of Mikael, haven't you?"

.:.

Mikael (Mikaelson?) is one intimidating mother fucker.

Granted, that was a first impression, but Caroline doesn't really know if there are any other words that can be used to describe the guy. He's tallish—about the same height as Damon and Rick, but you know, he's also _The Original Badass_ to beat all other originals and/or badasses. So there's an element of sheer confidence that he carries with him—with good freaking reason. But at his basest, he's a scary guy, and Caroline can't wait for him to just get rid of Klaus so that he can get the hell out of dodge.

And speaking of, there's a good chance that it's her issues with Nick—fucking hell, _Klaus_—that have her so frustrated by the presence of his father.

The two originals share the same stature, the same colour hair and the same eye colour. That's even more messed up by the fact that Rebekah—who's apparently been spilling her life story to Elena (Caroline got caught up on the car ride over there, and isn't it just the icing on the cake that Elena got more honesty from Rebekah in three hours than Caroline got from Klaus after dating him for almost three months?)—says that Mikael isn't even Klaus' real dad. But even messed up similar genetics aside, they have the same accent and the same little smirk that every kid learns from his dad. Worse than that, the terrifyingly confident way that Mikael holds himself is almost identical to the strut and persona that attracted her most to Nick (because he had been Nick back then) in the early days.

Not that she's feeling anything similar for Mikael. Because, well, we mentioned that he was pretty much _the _villain right? And that he was way beyond fucking creepy?

Plus, you know, he's old. Like her Dad or even Rick.

So, like, _ew. _

Anyway, one of the first things that Caroline learns in the half hour between meeting Mikael and everyone finally arriving for this meeting of sorts is that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. No wonder Klaus is such a shitty piece of work. His dad is freaking terrifying.

And the annoyingly similar accent that make Caroline want to tear her ears off.

Let it be said, she doesn't like the guy. _No one _liked the guy.

Oh, and to add to the whole 'we hate Mikael/the world hates Caroline' kick that the universe was apparently pretty keen on, Mikael had shown up with _Katherine._ As if acknowledging that about a week about, she'd thought Klaus was the bees knees, the universe had thought—what the hell, let's send his demon father and her colossal bitch monster of a sire in to mix it up a little.

(By the way, we're not telling anyone that Caroline thought Klaus was the perfect guy. Especially not while his cannibalistic vampire of a dad was around—the same dad who was out to kill his son, that is).

(Well, not really his son, but the kid of the guy his wife had an affair with and—Jesus, Caroline really needs to stop thinking one of these days, doesn't she?)

Tyler had been one of the first to arrive after Caroline and co. Because of his now broken sire bond, Tyler was one hundred percent sure that he could keep this whole plan a secret. But, seeing as telling everyone that the bond was broken would bring out questions that Caroline really didn't want to give the answers to (like: 'hey, yeah, Tyler's got his own free will back now because he got pissed that the guy I was banging was secretly the big bad we've been fighting the last couple of months'. That would go down well...) they'd pretty much only gotten Tyler and invite because they said that they thought it may be possible that Mikael's compulsion could override the sire bond.

(of course, the fact that Caroline's suddenly one of Tyler's biggest advocates does nothing for Damon's belief that the two of them are getting their jollies off together again. Nor does it stop Elena and Bonnie convincing themselves that yes, there must be some merit to the rumours about their reborn love connection.

Whatever. As long as they don't figure out the truth about the real love connection that had occurred, Caroline was happy to endorse the rumours.)

But whatever the lies are that have allowed both her and Tyler to remain on the inner fold,

Tyler was apparently a very important asset—and, according to Damon, someone that Mikael had been demanding to see since his arrival—(the first hybrid, and all that jazz).

Tyler seemed to be of the same mind set she was. She'd been apprehensive when Elena had mentioned him that morning, hadn't she?

Now, though? Just about an hour and a half after meeting the guy? Caroline feels pretty ready to jump out the nearest window and run screaming for the hills. He has one of those gazes that terrifies you to look at and she doesn't want to be around him for any longer than absolutely necessary.

Unfortunatley, it looks like her company is pretty much needed right now. She's the chair of the Homecoming committee, and everyone's plan is to using that influence to make sure that they can have the dance in the most opportune area possible.

"Well," Tyler offers nervously. "What about my house?"

Again, they all decide it'll only work if Mikael's compulsion comes to play, but it's a solid enough idea.

Everyone pauses to look at him. And he hastens to explain. "I just mean, Klaus already has an invite there. But the other hybrids don't—and he won't know that I've invited Mikael in as well. It'll take him by surprise at the very least." He glances in Caroline's direction and she flushes, refusing to look back. No way was he going to look at her like that. He was the hybrid here. It wasn't her loyalty that they had to question.

Mikael's head quirks a little watching the exchange, but Caroline is too busy blatantly not looking at Tyler to notice.

Damon nods his head slowly. "That could work," he says. He looks to Caroline now, and she isn't ashamed to meet his eye. "Will the school allow it?"

Caroline shrugs. "It's not exactly conventional, but I'm sure I can swing it. We'd need something to make sure that the gym is definitely not an option—and I'm sure I can talk someone into letting us do it at the Lockwood's."

Mikael's gaze is suddenly condescending. "Compulsion." He says as though it's obvious. Which, duh, it kind of is.

Elena looks ready to protest suddenly, but a sharp glance from everyone else in the room silences her. Caroline knows how she feels though. Compulsion is sick and wrong, even if an element of it is also a little cool.

But then again, it will make convincing the right teachers, and maybe even Jessica if she needs to, that much easier. That one she may not tell Elena about if she decides to take that route. Or she can always blame big bad dad if she wants.

"I'll work on it," Caroline says safely, not upsetting either her best friend or the Mikaelson patriarch.

Of course, from there it moves to more of the logistic side, and Damon is, obviously, the person to call Mikael on his information.

"You are sure that this is going to kill him, right?" He said, peering at Mikael as though the guy wasn't pretty much the mother ship of the vampire species.

Mikael shot him a look that was good enough for Caroline, but didn't quite satisfy Damon.

"I'm sorry if you're annoyed," he says, not sounding sorry _at all_, "but excuse us if we're not entirely comfortable setting our lives on the line for something that could be a myth for all we know."

Even Katherine pipes up now, not brazen enough to go up against Mikael. Then again, the scars on her neck are pretty much good enough reason to shut up and sit down for Caroline. "Damon," Katherine hisses across the room. "Shut up. It'll work."

Of course, to what Caroline observes to be Elena's great annoyance, Damon actually shuts up. Caroline can sense some pretty heavy bitching coming up on the radar, just from that inference.

Mikael kept his narrowed eyes on the eldest Salvatore for a moment before pulling them away to darkly survey the group. "Without the confirmation that this will be held where we need it to be—there is nothing more I can do to help you. When is your dance?" He asks.

"It supposed to be next Friday," Caroline says. It's a Friday now, and they're ready to go on their weekend break, wherein she and the girls have planned to get manicures—despite the oncoming doom et al. "So at the moment, it'll be held in the gym." They'd pretty much done this exchange of information already, but Caroline didn't see the harm in repeating herself. The gym, Mikael had said, was not acceptable—because if he had to focus on fighting off all the hybrids, then there would be no way to ensure Klaus's demise. And at the moment, he'd said, the surprise that Klaus didn't know they were coming was all that they had on their side.

(Awkwardly, the 'see you at home coming you f-bomb-ing asshole' might have already ensured they didn't even have that. Not that that was information Caroline was just going to volunteer until she was sure).

"I'll speak to the principal on Monday," Caroline said. "Get it moved to the Lockwood house."

Mikael smiled for the first time that evening, and Caroline felt her blood run cold. That was probably the most terrifying she'd seen him yet.

.:.

After she's dropped Elena and Bonnie home and she's avoided talking about the pregnancy rumours with her mother (short conversation after '_Mum, come on. I'm a vampire'_. Although, that might have done more harm than good because it's just served to remind Liz that she'll never have grandchildren and while it may look like that isn't something that would bother the Sheriff, it does, and it's also served to remind her that, for all intents and purposes, her daughter is dead) Caroline flops down on her bed, exhausted.

There's a slight ringing from her bag seconds later and Caroline groans. Not even a moment's peace from her friends or her mother.

She's feeling like shit because of the whole 'Mikael is fucking terrifying' thing, as well as the whole 'my mother just remembered I'm a walking corpse' thing returning, even though she'd hoped that Liz might not go into another of her moods for a while now, and it might be entirely because of that dejavu-ic situation that when Caroline glances at her phone, and sees the name 'Nick' she doesn't even think about it before pressing the green answer button and lifting it to her ear.

_Shit. _

.:.

**A/N: **WHOA. I don't even know where that came from. For the last week I've been suffering intense writers block—not a clue how to write where I wanted this fic to go—and then BOOM. Fourteen pages pretty much wrote themselves. Jesus, let's keep our fingers crossed that I can keep it up.

You know what it might have been? The fact that we are SIX REVIEWS AWAY from SIX HUNDRED. Sweet Jesus you people spoil me. And I love you for it. Maybe a new load of brilliant, _brilliant_ reviews from all my readers could kick start me into writing Chapter 16 especially fast?

Oh the blatant bribery. Ignore me. I'm just a bad person.

Anyway, please review. I'll try to have the next chapter done very soon, regardless of reviews, because you guys just deserve it for being so brilliant.


	16. huge and dark

**Disclaimer: **I own it all. All rights go to me. I am god. (*cackles manically as a large group of nondescript yet threatening men in suits stand swiftly, and proceed to beat me to death with their briefcases and lawyer jargon*) ALRIGHT. YOU GOT ME. I OWN NOTHING.

All chapter quotes go to Spring Awakening (a brilliant rock musical ala broadway).

(Also, I take back that God comment. I would really like to get into Heaven one day, you see, and blasphemy is apparently frowned upon in those parts :/ )

**Nb**. It is about quarter past one in the morning as I post this, I have written it all in the last hour and it is unbeta'd. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. (another also, please enjoy ;) )

.:.

"_huge and dark"_

.:.

It's the first thing to come out of her mouth, just because it's the only thing she can get to register in her head.

"Shit."

And then everything—just everything—the exhaustion, the fury, the worry, the fear, the anger, the tiredness, _everything_—just gets the better of her and she sighs. "What do you want?"

(It's a remarkable step for her, if you really think about it. Maybe this is a step in the direction of the Caroline she wants to be—the one who would have figured out that Nick was Klaus long before her super douche of an ex had to explain it to her—and even then, give her a life threatening bite so that Nick would prove it to her by being the only one able to cure her).

Still, she's not really registering much and she doesn't want to. All she really wants is for this day to be over.

"You sound upset." He comments lightly. Of course the first thing that he says is that much more cohesive than her sentence and she wonders immediately why she didn't hang up the second she realised that she hadn't lobbed the phone forcibly at the nearest hard surface, like she should have.

She tightens her jaw and scowls. "What do you _want, _Klaus?"

His name is like a rotten taste in her mouth and it makes her grimace just hearing the sound of it. She hides it though. He doesn't appear to have noticed.

"You're not answering the question, Caroline."

In that moment, her fury ignites the world with an incredible clarity that she's never felt in her life before. Ordinarily, she'd been hissing and spitting at this point, fists clenched, feet stomping, tantrum in full swing. Instead, she takes a super-duper mature deep breath and closes her eyes.

She still doesn't quite manage to unclench her jaw—and her voice is soft and deadly—but she's not flying off the handle and it's one step at a time, alright?

"And I'm not going to," she says, her voice cool and quiet. "Now you have five seconds to explain to me why the hell you think it's any of your concern, before I never speak to you again."

"Five seconds is better than nothing, love."

She almost breaks the phone and her hand tightens around the machine, a reaction to the nick name. She and him should have figured out that the names thing wasn't really their forte. Every time he called her something that wasn't her name, these days, she pretty much imploded in rage. And, well, everything he'd said about his name had been a pack of vicious lies.

Still, she remains remarkably, uncharacteristically calm.

"_Four._" She threatens.

He responds to the threat though, and comes right out with it.

"Are you dating Tyler Lockwood again?"

That asshole.

His voice is smooth, soft and all sorts of horribly brilliant. Exactly the tone she needed to make her day better, only it makes it that much worse. Disregarding the last two seconds she'd offered him, she's sure that he can hear her audible scoff before she hangs up and pegs the phone across the room.

It lands with a soft thump on her bed spread.

There is a pause. Of course, the fury bubbles up inside of her within seconds, her fists clench and she lets out a scream of frustration. Her mother could have heard—but Caroline's pretty sure that after their latest disagreement about the 'not ever having kids because I'm actually dead' thing, Liz has taken the police car out for a impromptu patrol.

And after her voice box hurts from screaming, there's really only one thing she can do. The anger is still there—apparently the screaming wasn't nearly the venting outlet it was looking for—and before she can really think about what she's doing, Caroline is scrambling onto her bed and grabbing the phone.

She dials his number.

"Are you?" he asks when he picks up, without a beats hesitation.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she demands, ignoring his question. "What the hell gives you the right to ask me that?"

She's got a whole tirade planned from there. It's one of those speeches that you can't really even express in words, and she knows that once she gets everything out, more and more will keep coming and she'll eventually scream 'you _raped_ me!' even if she's one hundred percent sure that that's not what happened—and she'll scream more accusations at him, hoping that maybe he'll just grow a pair, man up and leave town.

He won't though. He'll just do the whole 'I didn't do any of that' shit she knows he's got planned, so she'll have to make her insults more personal.

His haircut is gross (it isn't).

His fashion sense looks like someone or something vomited on him and that was the result (_ew, _and it really doesn't).

His accent sucks. (Okay, it really, _really_ doesn't).

And he'd probably laugh all of those insults off as well. Like he knows that he's freaking perfection (and damnit, she's not supposed to be thinking about him like that anymore. He's Satan, Caroline—SATAN).

Still, whatever. It doesn't matter if her planned tirade was pretty shit when you got down to it—it doesn't matter that there was a good chance she was going to overdramatise all the parts that really didn't matter and forget the ones that did (mostly because repression was her best defence mechanism, and it was really working in overtime).

And the reason that the tirade didn't matter in the slightest? Because Klaus, like the damn, arrogant, stupid original he is, decided to answer her rhetorical question.

And he does it without hesitation.

"I'm in love with you."

And really, where the hell can she go with that?

.:.

"You feeling alright, blondie?" Damon asks, as the two of them walk through the basement of the school, searching for the pipe ducts. They're looking for a way to flood the gym, and since Stefan's all kinds of off the wagon, it fell to Caroline to pick up the slack. It looks like she and Damon are the new dynamo crime fighting vampire team.

Caroline rolls her eyes, at the thoughts in her head and the nickname (she's so damn sick of those) but Damon only peers closer.

"Seriously," he continued, narrowing his eyes at her. "You look like shit."

"Oh _thanks,_" she said sarcastically, pushing him out of the way with her shoulder and moving ahead of him. She focuses on thinking about how crappy her shoes are going to look with all of this disgusting dust that she just knows is catching onto the fur collar around her boot neck and ruining them. Seriously? Isn't it enough that she's at school on a Saturday? Fate still has to got for her boots? Normally, she'd be repressing that as well—but she has more important things to avoid.

Because of course she looks like shit. Klaus loves her. Or at least, he'd said as much.

And this was Klaus. Not Nick. Not some false persona that Caroline had assumed he'd created so that he could get an ear on the inside. Klaus.

Klaus, with no reason or apparent motive at all, had said he was in love with her and left her to try and figure out what the hell that meant.

People have been noticing that she's been looking different. Her disgustingly abysmal yesterday had been made slightly better by the long sleep she'd had (she'd skipped first and second period, just to sleep in. Some things were worth it). But, even if she had felt a little better (at least exhaustion wise), it didn't mean that both Bonnie and Elena hadn't frowned when they'd seen her that morning.

("Caroline, are you alright? You look really pale? Are you sick?")

At least it had been nicer than Damon's approach, Caroline thinks. But difficult to avoid answering. Because, unlike Damon, Elena and Bonnie seem to actually give a shit about the answer. She'd managed to talk it off on stress about the whole homecoming plan, but neither of her friends looked convinced.

Comparatively, Damon was a piece of cake. His remark was easy to take as an insult, and by reacting accordingly, Caroline could avoid any discussion about why she may, or may not look like this.

At least, that was the theory.

Throwing Caroline for a loop, Damon moved a little quicker to catch up with her. When he did (and it didn't take long) he moved his head forward, watching her so obviously it was irritating. She shot him a look that he seemed to take as an invitation to begin speaking again.

"Seriously though," he says slowly. "Is the courageous life too much for you?"

Caroline rolls her eyes. "Let's do a head count, Damon. We'll compare the amount of people you've killed with the amount of people you have an then we can talk about courage."

Damon's eyes darken. "You got a lot of time to catch up, Caroline." He says with a frown. Caroline actually feels unnerved for a moment from the tone that he's taken with her, and the use of her real name. She hasn't heard that in a while, especially when they're having a face to face conversation.

Come on, a voice reminds her. Damon's ridiculously perceptive for a guy, and if she keeps this up, he'll have figured it out in no time.

So she decides to go towards the lighter route—give Damon some real ammo to work with if he wants to make fun of her. She hopes to god though, that none of this will get back to Tyler.

"It's just stuff about Tyler," she groans—as though her life could have been as simple as it was when her biggest problem was that her hybrid boyfriend had dumped her. "I keep trying to remind myself that he's on the wrong side—and then he'll do something nice and it messes with me."

As a light sparks in Damon's eye Caroline realises two things. The first is to remind her that this is Damon that she's talking to and why on earth is she talking to Damon about this even if it's totally false? The second is, come on. Who is she kidding? True or not—this is so going to get back to Tyler.

It is to Caroline's surprise, however, that Damon's next move isn't to totally take the shit out of her.

(Sure, his eyes are flashing like he's just learned something juicy and he looks entertained beyond all hell, but there's something thoughtful in his eyes that makes Caroline do a double take).

"Sometimes it's not as simple as two sides, Caroline." He says slowly.

Caroline takes that in. In the time that she does, the two of them spot a badly lit sign that points towards the main water tanks for the school. She purses her lips as they move with more of a purpose now, and again debates whether or not having this conversation is a good idea.

What the hell, she decides. Her most thought through decisions lately haven't done her much good, and this is the closest Damon's ever come to acting remotely human around Caroline (all the other times are mostly based on Elena-hearsay).

"You say that now," Caroline says. "But when it comes down to it, everyone knows that there's a decision to make." She swallows, trying to help with her suddenly dry throat.

Damon narrows his eyes. "And what decision is that, Blondie?"

The nickname is enough to remind Caroline who she's talking to. She decides that, if Damon Salvatore is good for anything at all in this world, it must have been brutal honesty. Who better to have this conversation with, really?

God, she's so conflicted.

"You know," she says, disregarding all else and just going for it. "You decide who's done the right thing and who's done the wrong thing. And that's the end of it."

Damon is silent.

Caroline lets out a growl of frustration.

"Klaus is the bad guy, Damon. And we're the good guys." She tells him, as though he's the one who'd accidentally fallen for the enemy. "And you're always the first to say so."

Damon shrugs, noncommittally. "Well, sure." He says with a frown. "But where do you put Tyler?"

For a moment, Caroline has to remind herself that yes, Damon isn't aware that the eons of subtext to this conversation is totally one sided. For now, as far as she knows, Damon is entirely unaware of her part in the whole Nick-Klaus saga. Tyler, she tells herself. Tyler is the one that they're talking about.

When she responds to Damon's question, she's not talking about Tyler.

"Well," she frowns. "Where would you put him?"

Damon shakes his head immediately. "Doesn't matter." He says. "Doesn't change how you're going to look at the guy."

She gives him a look. "Of course it does." She says. "You'd be the first to say it. You're either doing the right thing or the wrong thing, and you'd tell us which one it was. You may be a giant pain in the ass but you usually know what you're doing." She spares him a sarcastic glance. "When you're not acting like a gigantic dick," she adds, just so that he doesn't start thinking that she likes him, or anything.

Damon sighs. "And there I was thinking that I might have worked my way into becoming the favourite brother."

Caroline chuckles dryly. "With Stefan in his ultimate douchebag persona, there wasn't much of a competition, anyway."

Damon turned up his nose. "And yet," he says with a grimace. "It looks like I still lost." He leans forward. "You seem to be more pissy lately than you have been." He pauses. "You're not really pregnant are you? Because that would just take this whole year into Twilight levels of creepy." He makes an aghast sound. "Are you the person that's been watching me in my sleep?" he asks with wide eyes and a hand on his heart.

Caroline smiles at the joke, even though she's always been quite a fan of the Twilight series*****. Even if Damon was ten kinds of annoying, he possesses a wit that, on occasion, even made Elena laugh.

"Nah," she sighs. "Maybe it was Stefan?"

Damon wrinkles his nose. "A little too incestuous, for me thanks," he sneers. "But if there was ever a poster child for angsty vampire, Stefan would be it."

For the first time in what felt like days, Caroline laughs. She pokes her tongue out at him, grateful for the less serious moment in the conversation, and comes to a stop. Damon pauses beside her and they both face the wall now—and the wide variety of taps and pipes that greet them.

"Which one do you reckon will do the trick?" Caroline asks. He probably has more knowledge in the whole 'industrial sabotage' thing anyway. Embarrassing that she couldn't be the saboteur in this situation but she didn't know much about mechanics and how buildings worked—but give her a teenage girl with an inferiority complex and watch her work her magic.

Still, it didn't look like it was rocket science.

Damon reached up with a casual hand and grabbed one of the pipes. With only a small effort, he clenched his fist around the metal and crunched it to get, blocking the flow of water. With his other hand, he yanked on a few other pipes, before he turned all the taps to full.

"That should do it." He declared, stepping back an admiring his handiwork. "One flooded gym at

your service." He turned his gaze to her.

"Seriously?" She scowled at him. "Why did I even need to come?"

He shot her a look that he must have thought looked dashing or charming. Pfft, that may have been slowly bringing down Elena's defences, but Forbes women were made of incredibly stern stuff. (Not that Elena wasn't tough or stern or—oh god, whatever. That's not what she meant).

Damon was watching her closely. "You're sure you can get the teachers to agree to throw this thing at the Lockwood's."

Caroline raises a challenging brow that is all the answer he needs. She turns so that they can begin the dark trek back to the land of the living (lol, right?) and she can get out of this school (because it's creepy being at school on the weekend.

"Don't think I didn't see what you did there, by the way." Damon says casually, as they walk.

Caroline wonders vaguely why they're walking at a human pace. They could have run and been out of there in seconds. But no, they apparently wanted to feel _normal. _

Still, being a blonde had worked for her before. It was a brilliant excuse to fake dumb. "What did I do?" She asks.

Damon scoffs. "Don't even pretend, Blondie," he picks up on the move immediately. "You can't fool someone who's been alive as long as I have with the fake moron act."

Caroline pouts.

Damon continues.

"You didn't tell me what you think about Tyler. Good guy or bad guy. I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure it could be because you don't know the answer yourself."

She knows the answer. Asshole or not, Tyler's a good guy. He makes mistakes, but everyone does. He's got a bit of an attitude problem, but what adolescent rich kid in America didn't, these days? At least, that's what the rest of the world thought.

Huh, she thinks. Too bad they're not actually talking about Tyler. Because when it comes to judging herself for her alleged rights and wrongs, everything suddenly looks a whole lot more grey.

.:.

Later on, sitting on the couch and watch the first season of _The OC_ (okay, so far she'd spent her Saturday arguing with Damon and dwelling on unfortunate and annoying declarations of love. She just needs some time with Seth and Summer to remind her that love really did exist. In the end, it had been a tossup between Seth and Summer and Chuck and Blair, but you know—Gossip Girl was New York and that was strictly off the menu), Caroline considers the actual content of their conversation.

Black and white wasn't as easy as everyone said it was. That was what she was getting from Damon. And of course that was what she was getting from Damon.

Damon Salvatore was a murderer. Damon Salvatore was a selfish narcissist with a drinking problem and a penchant for falling in love with the same women his brother would. (So, yeah, it was an _understandable_ drinking problem, but a drinking problem nonetheless). Damon Salvatore was a bad guy, and even if he wasn't the worst of all bad guys, he still knew what it was to do the wrong thing and revel in the fucking brilliance of it all.

And if anyone was going to remind her that the world was a messed up place where right and wrong were so subjective that Klaus could seem like one of the lesser evils of the world—

("Seriously," Damon had said. "Klaus or Hitler. You can choose to undo all the shit one of them has done, and leave the other one be. Which one do you chose?"

Because, obviously, a little_ more _mind fuckery was exactly what she needed right now, wasn't it?)

—then that person was Damon Salvatore.

But what it came down to was this.

Klaus had told her he was in love with her. As Klaus. Over the phone, no less, and still acting like a juvenile, but he'd said it. And there was no endgame to saying that now. Now that she knew who he was and she sure as hell wouldn't be feeding him inside information. So, even if it was the stifled romantic in her, desperate for a happy ending, a part of Caroline wondered if he could have been telling the truth. Maybe he was in love with her.

But then, she reminded herself hastily, that was a very bad thing.

A very, _very _bad thing. Because you can't just have the bad guy (shut up. Right and wrong were confusing enough, don't get her started on good and bad), be in love with you. Especially when you're definitely on the good guys side (no seriously, shut up).

But whatever his motives were now, didn't matter. Not in the slightest, because Caroline knew how she felt.

And she hated Klaus. Hate, hate, hate. With a burning passion and with the fire of a thousand suns or whatever it was Shakespeare had written in that play. (Or was it a poem?)

Whatever. It's poetic.

.:.

**A/N: **There is chapter seventeen for you. Very fillery—I apologise—but I need to get some of that inner questioning stuff out into the open and I felt like some Damon/Caroline time (I can't be the only one who thinks that if they'd started off on better terms, they'd be bitching best friends? Ohmygod, the combined snark and everything gives me BestieOTP feels!)

Also, we've got a little Klaus interaction. There is definitely more coming up—and the end is on the horizon and steadily getting closer and closer. Stick with me for a few more Caroline questioning her life scenes, and I'll make it worth the wait.

Pleaz review. Some more. Even though I am already spoiled rotten by all you brilliant folks. Wanna try to get to 700 for this chapter? BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME, REMEMBER? And I'm going to work on chapter 18 right now? ESPESH BECAUSE REVIEWING IS SO EASY NOW. THE BOX IS RIGHT THERE. RIGHT THERE! (it excites me SO).

Awesome. Peace out.

PS. THERE IS A FREAKING MOUSE UNDERNEATH MY SEAT PEOPLE. AND IT'S FREAKING ME OUT. MAYDAY MAYDAY. SOMEONE CALL IN AN AIRSTIKE, OVER. (omfg it's so gross).


	17. oh, our hearts

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Cries.

**Nb**. Again people, please stop asking me to change the way I spell 'mum'. I'm going to stop making excuses or whatever, because you all have counterpoints that make a lot of sense. All I'm going to say is that I'm Australia, and I haven't got any complaints on the spelling of favourite or colour, and I'm always going to spell mum with a 'u'. I hope that doesn't turn you off the story.

I'm still not sleeping as much as I should, and this is still un-beta'd. Sorry for all mistakes you come across, and please let me know of all the ones I can fix. :P

. GO SEE ROCK OF AGES. IT WAS FUCKING EPIC. TOM CRUISE WAS AWESOME IN IT. (yes, readers, you have discovered an elusive and rare _Tom Cruise fan_. Try to contain your shock and horror). :D

.:.

"_Oh, our hearts,"_

.:.

"Seriously, Caroline," Elena says, looking at her friend with wide eyes. "I think you got away with it this time—but this is a vampire that literally drinks from other vampires. You need to be more careful."

Caroline wants to roll her eyes at the lecture, but doesn't. Because Elena has a point.

And not even just a point. A major, _major _point. She was totally right. If Mikael had noticed how entirely uninterested she was in listening to him spiel on, she'd probably have been his next blood bag.

Bonnie nodded her head solemnly from Caroline's other side.

Back at the Salvatore house, Mikael had walked with the air of someone who expected to be respected. And, well yeah, he had good reason. Everyone wasseated, and listening with rapt attention as the first vampire ever dictated the plan. The plan that would help everyone in the room kill his son, as it was. And no one dared to not listen.

Well, except for Caroline.

But it wasn't like she wasn't listening on purpose. She's not trying to step on Mikael's toes or anything and she's certainly not against the plan—but haven't they heard it all before?

So Klaus would hide in the mansion, and Mikael would draw him out, after compelling all his hybrids. And while Klaus was distracted with his father, Damon would go in for the kill from behind. Stefan was to be sorted with, the ensure he couldn't meddle, and Elena would be hidden safely away—with Katherine playing the part of the eldest Gilbert for the evening.

The point was—they all knew the plan. Knew it like the back of their hand.

Mikael was the cinch-pin of the operation though. They had to ensure that Klaus had no idea that Mikael was in the area. He needed to be their secret weapon.

And _that_, my friends, is why Caroline had had so much trouble paying attention to the thousandth reminder of the plan. And why she was now having difficulty focusing on the dress shopping outing she was on with her friends.

Because she was pretty sure that she'd already fucked it up.

In her effort to rewind every past experience she shared with him and unravel the intricacies of his every move and figure out what Klaus's new angle was by saying he was in love with her, Caroline had come across a memory that she'd almost forgot in the rush of everything.

And to say that it worried her would have been an understatement.

She'd thought of it while they were all sitting in the boarding house. She'd been thinking about how funny it was that in the midst of all of this, Elena and Bonnie were still going to go dress shopping with her for the homecoming.

Elena wasn't even _going _, and Caroline would be spending the night with Bonnie—trying to kill the biggest big bad out—but they all decided that they would all wear their dresses.

"If it goes right," Elena had said before they'd all sat down, to listen to Mikael, "then we'll have our own party at my house."

Bonnie had raised an eyebrow. "And if it doesn't?" she asked.

Elena grimaced a bit. "We'll all have somewhere to hide out in style?" she offered meekly.

But whatever. Caroline had been just sitting there, thinking about the dress shopping, and if the clothes she'd worn that morning were ideal of changing room—because she hadn't known until earlier and she'd put on a stupid amount of layers—when she'd flashed back to another dressing room, when she'd been talking about killing Klaus and the same plan that they were all discussing now.

In New Klaus.

So yeah, there's a really good chance that Klaus already knows.

And, it's a pretty shit thought because trying on lingerie for Nick was pretty much a really great memory of the two of them. Messing that up by remembering that this is Klaus's face, and his voice—and she's trying underwear on _for him_—isn't something she's really keen on doing, but it looks like that's what's going to have to happen.

But she can remember. And not only that, but she can remember it incredibly clearly.

"_Don't tell me sweetheart. I wouldn't want you getting in trouble with your friend for spilling the beans._"

Okay. Number one, what self-respecting bad guy uses the phrase 'spilling the beans?' Klaus apparently hadn't learnt that badass talk was a requirement for centuries old vampires.

But number two, and probably more important, what self-respecting bad guy _stops_ the person you're manipulating information from, from telling you how they plan on killing said bad guy?

She's beginning to learn that either Klaus was really shit at this evil thing, or there's something more to it.

"Ooh—Caroline this is so your colour!" Elena says excitedly from the other side of the shop. Caroline turns to see her friend holding up a short, silvery dress.

Yeah, this is definitely what she needs. Retail therapy. That's got to help, right?

Caroline plucks the dress she's been absently touching in her musing thoughts, and heads towards Elena. She takes the silver dress and grins, while point Elena to a darker dress that would totally suit her hair and olive complexion.

"I'll just try them on," Caroline tells both of them, before moving towards the back of the shop. The clerk shows her to an empty change room and Caroline hangs up the dresses on the wall, ready to get started trying on the pretty things.

"Caroline!" she hears Elena call out. "What colour's better for Bonnie—turquoise, blue or green?"

Caroline thinks for a moment. "Turquoise or blue," she ends up saying back. "But try them both on."

Even though Caroline's not talking too loud—just at a regular speaking pitch—both her friends hear her—and even though they're a while away, Caroline can distinctly hear Elena tell Bonnie that the turquoise will set off her eyes.

That's vampiric hearing for you.

Caroline freezes as the thought occurs to her (which is actually quite funny because she's midway pulling the dress on, and the zip's caught near her bum. She's already got her wrists through the sleeve, so when she stops moving, she kind of looks like a penguin that really needed to go to the bathroom).

Of course.

_Of fucking course._

Caroline isn't entirely sure how to feel as the epiphany strikes her. Relief is there, but not that much. There's a sinking feeling in her stomach that makes her want to scream—but she pushes that away, and focuses on the small part of her that's relaxing with this revelation.

He's a vampire. He's one of the originals. His vampire hearing must be way more sophisticated than hers. And if she can hear someone talking across the shop, he must be able to as well, right?

The bad part about this was, of course, that Klaus knew the plan. But Caroline can't bring herself to focus on that. He wasn't in love with her—it was a ploy back then.

He must have heard the conversation she'd had with Elena—when Elena had dictated the plan to her over the phone. Then, when Caroline went to tell him, he tried to absolve himself of the guilty by acting like he didn't want to know.

Sneaky, but not sneaky enough, she smirks.

But now she will have to address the fact that Klaus knows the plan. He knows that Mikael is back in town—and he will have a plan to save his own life.

They were going to fail.

Caroline looks at herself in the mirror—the red dress she's pulled on all sorts of sexy and making her boobs look _fantastic—_and stares. Forget the dress, her face is distorted, because she honestly has absolutely no idea how she feels about that.

.:.

Caroline finishes shopping with the girls at about one in the afternoon, bowing out graciously and using her mother as an excuse. She'll compel the rest of her teachers to forget about her grades for tomorrow, but she needs to get the history paper for Rick's class done. (God, trust her to get a history teacher who also happened to be perpetually on vervain). (Don't tell Elena).

She spends a couple of hours in bed, trying to take a nap and escape from all her problems. She has one of those sleeps where she's half awake, half asleep, and she dreams about going to a shopping mall that doesn't make architectural sense and trying to escape as the large building floods.

She wakes up feeling more tired than she was before, and frowning. Why couldn't she get cool psychic Buffy style dreams that told her about her destiny and how to fix it?

Caroline leaves her bed to go watch some Buffy. She finishes off Rick's essay and emails it to herself at school. She can print it off there, she decides, before she slumps back into her seat. She falls asleep again on the couch, and wakes up there the next morning feeling way more rested—even with the slight crick in her neck.

Getting to school is the easy part. She decides to leave early—even though she's not picking any one up this morning—and gets to school with about half an hour to spare.

She heads straight to the admin building.

To say that the staff of the building are surprised to see her at that time in the morning is an understatement. There are a couple of students already here—getting stuff from their lockers and heading to the library—the only warm part of the school at that hour—but none of the are people she spends too much time with.

She sorts everything out quite quickly, using their shock to her advantage. "Can I go chat to Principal Simmons?" she asks, her voice bright and cheerful.

The clerk surveys her through her glasses for a moment, as though she can read Caroline's motives through her eighties style glasses, before she nods slowly. "She's in her office." She drones.

Caroline smiles.

She slips into the small office and smiles slightly. She hasn't been here in a while. When she was more of a truant and hadn't yet learned how to use her mother's job to her advantage, Caroline had been here a lot. Mostly ninth and tenth grade, in trouble for skipping class to go shopping and whatnot.

The office looks about the same, with a couple more kids drawings on the wall near the windows and a new mac computer instead of the older PC. The curtains are the same gross shade, and sure enough, Principal Simmon's haircut is the same stiff bob it always has been—but it's been dyed dark recently—probably to hide grey hairs.

Caroline smiles brightly as Simmons makes similar judgements about her.

"Miss Forbes," she says, her face frowning in confusion slightly. "I haven't seen you around here lately."

Caroline smiles and sits in the free chair opposite the principal, on the opposite side of the desk. "I've been really busy." She says. "As you know I'm the Homecoming chair."

Simmons nods her head and looks amused.

Caroline smiles again, and hopes the expression doesn't look more fake with every use. Simmons doesn't seem to have clued in on anything yet, so she must be doing fine. Instead, the older woman leans forward and rests her arms on the desk. "What is it I can do for you then, Caroline?" she asks.

Caroline just goes for it.

"Do you believe in vampires, Principal Simmons?"

For the next second, Caroline is at her most observant. She watches as the woman's brows rise and then furrow, coming together in a frown, and she starts slightly, leaning away from Caroline. Her fingers tense, her head jerks slightly and her jaw even manages to drop a little bit.

Awesome. Simmons didn't have any idea what was going on in this school. Caroline thought she would check.

Simmons splutters, which is kind of funny to see in a woman of her position in the school. "Miss Forbes," she says incredulously, confused as hell, "what are you talking about?"

Caroline smiles—this time it's more of a grim expression. She stands and moves forward, while Simmons hastily stands as well. Caroline leans forward.

"You will move the Homecoming to the Lockwood house," she says, feeling a slight sensation come over her as Simmons' eyes lock directly on her. "There's been flooding in the gym and you don't see any other opportunity. You don't want to postpone the dance."

She leans back, satisfied as Simmons repeats the instructions to her. Sure, compulsion is a really messed up talent to have, and Caroline knows better than anyone how messed up it can get—but it's also necessary. They're trying to kill Klaus. Some people's free will would have to be sacrificed for that.

Oh, and before she forgets.

"You will forget that I mentioned anything about vampires. I came in and spoke to you about a list of rules for the dance—and you were happy to help."

Again, Simmons responds by repeating her instructions back and Caroline smiles. She waits a moment, for Simmons to snap out of it, and picks up her bag. When she looks back to the Principal, the woman is smiling.

"I'm glad we've gotten that all sorted out then, Caroline," she says brightly. "You're doing a great job handling all of this, by the way."

Right, Caroline thought as she turned. If only she knew.

.:.

**A/N: **Really shot chapter folks, but I like to look at it like a double whammy because I updated last night. I would make this one longer but I know exactly where I want next chapter to go and I don't have any way of splitting it without making this chapter too long.

But, I promise we'll get to the really meaty plot stuff from here on, so it's kind of worth it. Everyone who reviewed for last chapter has to review for this one. I don't care if you read them at the same time :P I'm on a roll here and I hope you guys are happy because I am :)

SO YEAH, we had more angsty Caroline, but we're nearing the end :P :P 

Please review.


	18. will murmur the blues from on high

**Disclaimer: **I possess a fierce hope that James Magnussen owns the rest of his races because he looked so sad when they lost the Mens 400 relay, and that Australia proves how awesome we are to the world. Anything regarding The Vampire Diaries, however, belongs to its owners and creators.

**Nb**. I'm a shit, shit person. I know, I don't need to be told (but feel free to anyway). My computer basically imploded and my muse has apparently taken a fucking sabbatical or something, so I sat down tonight and told myself I wasn't going anywhere until I had a solid, plot related story for you all. So I watched Klaroline videos on youtube, and I watched my favourite episodes online and I got the fuck back into it.

Hopefully it goes well :/

I'm still not sleeping as much as I should, and this is still un-beta'd. Sorry for all mistakes you come across, and please let me know of all the ones I can fix. :P

.:.

"_Will murmur the blues from on high,"_

.:.

Three hours.

There are three hours to Homecoming and Caroline is stressing. She's pacing in her room, already in her dress, make up done, waiting for the call from Elena letting her know that it's time for the plan to begin. Just in case their houses are being watched, they've devised the best way to make this look natural, and so they don't give anything away. Caroline knows her house is probably being watched, but she pulls the curtains close with only one meaningful glance out into the darkness.

The week has passed quickly. The time has been racing by but homecoming couldn't have taken more time to finally arrive. Before this supernatural business, Caroline never really understood what it was to be jerked around by time like this—but now she's immortal and it all seems so much more relative.

Whatever. She's trying not to think about anything too heavy at this point. She'd rather focus on keeping her head in the game.

There is a plan for tonight. One that they've gone over again and again and one where mistakes will not be tolerated. They can't be risked, either. Klaus is too dangerous.

(She doesn't think about his eyes or his accent or the quirk of his lips when he smiles. She thinks of his hands clenched around the steering wheel, and the almost terrifying confidence that he carries himself with. If she focuses on his downsides, she thinks she can manage it).

Already in her clutch, her phone rings shrilly, thankfully tearing Caroline from being stuck inside her own head.

She answers, this time checking the caller ID, and tries not to sound too exasperated.

"What do you want?" she demands, frowning.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Tyler sound reproachful when he responds. She can imagine the pout on his face, (hello? She's seen it enough, hasn't she?) so she softens slightly. She lets out a deep breath and clenches and unclenches her fists.

"Sorry," she sighs, pressing a perfectly manicured hand to her forehead, careful to miss all the important, untouchable make up. "I'm just a bit nervous."

There is a pause. Finally, Tyler make a funny noise. "Nervous? Are you sure?"

Caroline knows what he's getting at immediately. Hell, a blind, deaf hippopotamus with social issues would know what he's implying. And angry hippo or not, Caroline is always quick to get defensive. And this is no ordinary time for her to be defending herself. She's baring her teeth immediately (even if the only one who gets the full effect of that visual is her mirror).

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snaps.

It probably would have been better if Tyler's following response was equally defensive or aggressive, but her werewolf ex-boyfriend just chuckles.

"So it's not just nerves then?" he asks.

She's reminded of the jock who had annoyed her so much in freshman year, when she hadn't know that he had a brain underneath it all. Whatever the personality changes he's been going through, he's got her pegged.

Not that she's going to talk to him about it.

"Shut up." She orders icily. "What's happening?"

Tyler sighs for a moment, giving himself a short pause so that it's obvious to her that he's doing her a favour by letting her 'not-quite-just-nerves' go to waste. Then he focuses himself.

Caroline and the planning committee had been given the afternoon away from school (yes, there was a little compulsion included but whatever, she's stressed and sometimes it's not worth the hassle). She and the girls had been setting up the Lockwood house and the backyard for the homecoming—while Tyler (who obviously had to be present at his own home) and Caroline subtly tried to sort everything out for the real planned event for the night.

Caroline had only left about an hour ago, which ordinarily wouldn't be enough time to get ready for her homecoming, but she had to make do. Others, it seemed, were still vying to outshine her.

"Jess didn't leave—apparently she brought her dress and her makeup with her in a bag so that she wouldn't miss anything."

(Of course she did that stupid bitch, Caroline thinks busy. Are original vampires who lie about their identity and their murderous fathers not enough drama? She still has to deal with jealous attention seekers?)

Caroline lets out a huff of annoyance that makes Tyler chuckle again, but he doesn't stop.

"Klaus already has an invite." He reports. "And I've given invitations to five of the more trustworthy hybrids. Klaus doesn't want too many inside—because so many of them don't go to school and he doesn't want to draw attention."

Caroline snorts. "That doesn't sound like him."

Tyler doesn't respond to that. What could he say, really? His self-preservation has kicked in and he seems to know that there isn't an answer he could give that would stop her kicking him when she saw him next.

"Anyway," he continues on, uncomfortably. "Klaus and the others aren't here at the moment—because they'd look too suspicious when there are too few people. He's planning on showing up later—at about eight or nine. But you should definitely all be here before he shows, otherwise he's going to be suspicious."

Caroline snatches her car keys from her desk and nods. "I'm on it." She says. As if psychically linked, her phone suddenly buzzes near her ear. "Hang on," she tells him, bringing her head back to check the message that she's been expecting.

Yeah. Sure enough, it's a message from Elena.

_We're ready. Are you on your way? _

Caroline quickly texts back in affirmative before pressing the phone back to her ear. "Elena just texted me." She says. "They're ready for me to go and get them—so we'll get there in about twenty minutes."

"Good. Right." He grunts. "I don't think I can handle Jess by myself for much longer than that."

Caroline lets out a small growl. "Don't let her touch anything." She snarls. "I mean it—if she messes this up—"

"Care." Tyler interrupts her. "Bigger fish, dude."

Caroline rolls her eyes but concedes his point. "Whatever. Just watch her."

"I will," he says, sounding amused again. He pauses for a moment and Caroline actually goes to hang up when he starts talking again.

"I'm sorry about this." He says suddenly.

Caroline's eyes narrow. "What are you talking about?"

The silence is answer enough.

She inhales sharply. "Tyler—I don't—"

"Don't brush this off, Caroline." He says, taking her words again. "I know this is hard on you—I was in love with you for a good couple of months. Kind of still am. I know when you're having problems—and you've been freaking out all week."

She splutters slightly, but Tyler ploughs on.

"It makes sense. You loved him—and I know it's messed up and he lied—but you did love him. And it's hard."

Caroline shakes her head wordlessly. Holy shit, is this Tyler? Tyler Lockwood talking to her? Maybe it's another joke or something.

"I'm serious," Tyler says, as though he actually can read her mind. "I know this is hard, and I'm really proud of you for getting through it."

He hangs up before she can respond, leaving her a little shell shocked. _You loved him. You did love him. _She stares at her own reflection for a moment, still and trying not to think. She focuses on the bad things—the horrible things that he did to her and to her friends and family.

Other things flash through the front of her mind. His smile when she realised they were in New York. The milkshake he pushed in front of her the first time she met him. Their first club, in the pounding overwhelming atmosphere of the club. Him helping her with her homework, the two of them rolling around on her bed and making fun of each other.

She remembers how absolutely fucking easy it was to love him.

In a move that's so sudden it surprises her, she hurls her phone through the air and into the mirror. The glass of her phone and her reflection shatters and when Caroline comes back into her head, she's breathing heavily.

She hovers there for another moment, chest heaving as the sudden fury leaks out of her, leaving a horrible space in her stomach. Her eyes are watering, and she wants to pound the crap out of Tyler.

Why the fuck did he have to chose now, of all times, to suddenly be observant and wise? What the hell was that all about?

Instead of focusing on anything complex as she snatches her clutch up again and storms out of her room, she focuses on exactly where she'd going to hit Tyler when this night is over. At least _something _good will come of tonight.

.

She arrives at Elena's rather quickly, without much of a hassle. When she arrives, she goes inside the Gilbert house and is thrown off for a moment at the sight of Katherine, dressed to the nines in all of Elena's clothes, more identically to Elena now than ever

Both Petrova doppelgangers immediately demand to know when she didn't pick up her phone the three times they've called in the last couple of minutes.

("What the hell is going on in that peanut of a brain, you foolish little girl? Do you think we're just playing around here?")

Yeah. Guess which one that was.

Admittedly, Elena is a little nicer about it. ("Caroline, I was so worried—what happened?")

Of course, Caroline then has to lie about what's happened to her phone, apparently only strengthening Katherine's already shit opinion of her. "I dropped it." She said biting her lip and trying to look like she was really sorry about it.

Both doppelganger's look sceptic.

Caroline lets out a little huff. "I'm nervous, alright? It's not every night that we plot to kill the bad-assest of originals." (No one ever tell Klaus she called him that).

Katherine rolls her eyes but buys it. Elena didn't seem to ever really doubt her. Katherine turns to Elena quickly, apparently keen to get this evening over and done with. (Welcome to the fucking club, Petrova. We've got blood, and you wouldn't have to put up with me if you hadn't made me fucking immortal).

She fixes Elena with a glare that makes Caroline want to stand between them and protect her best friend.

"Stay away from the windows. Keep the lights off. Try not to move about too much. He'll have someone watching your house—and if they guess that we've pulled the switch, we're all dead."

Despite the totally ominous tone of Katherine's voice, Elena steels her jaw and nods. Caroline watches admirably. If there's anything to say about her friend, it's that she's got lady balls of steel, and a heart to match.

Katherine turns to Caroline. "Hurry up." She snaps.

Caroline scowls. "I've really missed having you around," she simpers sarcastically. "Are you absolutely sure you have to go once this is over?"

Katherine glares. "Careful." She warns her.

Probably a smart idea to stop pissing off more powerful vampires, Caroline thinks internally. Externally, she sneers before turning to Elena.

"Be careful," Elena orders immediately, her eyes wide and worried. She pulls Caroline into a hug. "Be really, _really_ careful."

Caroline hugs her back solidly for a moment before pulling away. "I'll see you tonight, alright? Once this is all over."

Elena smiles grimly. "I can't even imagine what it'll be like once Klaus is gone." She sounds excited, but terrified at the same time. And behind it all, there's this shining beacon of hope—hope for a time when Klaus is dead.

The pit in Caroline's stomach grows.

.

Once back on the road, Caroline does her best not to anger or be angered by Katherine. "Where are the guys?" she asks immediately.

Katherine rolls her eyes. "They'll meet us there." She says. "Apparently, since Elena can't make up her mind, I'm not allowed to have either of them as well."

The way she says it makes it clear to Caroline that Katherine very seriously thinks that that is unreasonable.

God, this chick is crazy.

"Maybe if you could drop the whole eternal bitch point of this love triangle for one night?" Caroline suggests. "Just while we're all risking out necks?"

Yeah. That 'not pissing Katherine off' thing wasn't really working out, apparently.

"You're out of your league, Caroline. Stop trying to play with the big kids."

Oh. Right. Condescension. As though she didn't get enough of that from Damon.

The rest of the ride is filled with stony silence, and when Caroline pulls into the park she had Tyler reserve for her, she can't be more relieved. They hastily make their way to the front door, and knock, just as planned.

Tyler opens the door and smiles brightly—he looks a little desperate, actually, which Caroline can immediately contribute to Jess who's still talking in the background. He opens his arms wide.

"Caroline! Elena! _Come in_."

He starts slightly when he gets good look at Katherine as Elena. It's just as uncanny to him, she notes. Still, the invitation works and Katherine slips smoothly across the threshold. Until, that is, Katherine leans forward. "I've already been invited in here." She whispers to his ear.

He shivers slightly and Caroline frowns. Oh, right, she recalls. The masquerade. Whatever, she thinks as she follows her inside. She rests a comforting hand on his arm before she remembers she's pissed with him, and then she catches his look. She decides that, for the moment, she'll take his side over Katherine's and she shoots him a sympathetic look.

It will make her kick (she's planning on getting him solidly in the shins once tonight is over) a little more random if he thinks she's cool with him now, but whatever—it'll make it more fun.

Her stomach churns, and how can she be thinking of fun at a time like this.

God, she needs to sort out her priorities.

This time she distracts herself by stalking over towards Jess and snatching the streamers she's messing with from her grasp. She spends a good couple of minutes working out her frustrations with a good bitch that leaves Jess glaring, before she moves out to the large yard.

It's still decorated as she'd sorted—and she can see from here that more and more people are arriving. There are a couple of teachers present as chaperones, and near them Caroline can see Damon and Rick chatting and managing to look exceedingly casual.

In the middle of the room, Caroline smirks at the sight of Stefan, eyes stony and angry, brushing off Katherine's advances. She sighs when she realises that if they're playing Stefan and Elena—at the moment—their encounter is a little too accurate. Caroline kind of misses their dream team couple—when she's not ridiculously glad she doesn't have to put up with their perfection.

Not that she happy Elena's sad. That's not it at all.

Spreading out her senses the best she can, Caroline tries to pick up on the hearts that aren't beating. She doesn't think about how she learnt that particular trick, but it works and she focuses on the two hybrids she can now tell are outside. There may be another one inside at this point, but Tyler had mentioned that there were a couple who Klaus trusted with the invitation.

With her senses still spread, Caroline can immediately tell the moment that everyone in her little crime fighting gang receives a text. With a groan, she remembers her phone's state and regrets the hasty move to destroy it.

It doesn't really matter in the end though. Once Stefan has read the text, he translates the message for Katherine, who is waiting impatiently for news.

"_He's here."_

Fuck.

Caroline's heart starts beating wild—or it would. She can feel her body react the way it would have, if she had a heart to beat wildly—and is suddenly glad that there is no heartbeat to give her nerves away.

This is a moment for her though. She's got parts in this plan—and hers is to get Tyler out of the way. She moves back into the house and very much on purpose avoids the space where she knows Klaus is standing. She keeps a steady pace and moves to the stairs, taking them two at a time and moving towards Tyler's room. She has to get the sedative out first, and then she'll get Tyler to join her.

There's a slight tap at the door that makes her jump. She stuffs the needle back, and hides the small clutch under the pillow of Tyler's bed before she turns back. She opens the door and barely refrains her sigh of frustration.

"Oh, _god._" She groans, looking down at Jess with a frown. "What now?"

Jess smiles at her tightly. "A word?" she offers.

"You know what?" Caroline says immediately. "No." She can feel the nasty coming out of her, ready to play. Finally, someone she can actually yell at. "You have been nothing but a nonstop pain in my ass for months now and tonight is the night that that can end—so do me and you a favour, go downstairs and enjoy the homecoming that I planned—"

Jess's hand swipes out a seals around Caroline's neck, clenching around her windpipe. Caroline doesn't _need _to breathe these days, but the habit is hard to break and she still feels like she's choking. She clutches at the hand, trying to pull it off.

Jess is stronger.

"For once in your life, Caroline, would you please just fucking _shut up._"

.

**A/N:** OKAY. I thought that was going to come out totally shit but I'm actually pretty happy with it. We've got more of confusing the crap out of Caroline—and some fun revelations in the future. The major chapters are coming up. I think, if I'm totally honest, we've got somewhere between three to eight chapters left, depending on how I draw things out. I have a rough plan, but it really depends on where I can get the words to come out when it comes to the specific chapters.

Again, this in un-beta'd, but it's pretty late and I don't have time to do more than one read through/edit, and I wanted to post it ASAP because I'm a shit author and you've waited long enough. If you spot any major plot holes and/or grammar mistakes, let me know. :P

I hope everyone's having a great Olympics, and enjoying it (as much as I'm enjoying all the men's events that relate to water because _hawt._ The home team—AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE—has some particularly fine specimens this year ;) ).

Thanks for all the epic reviews and for sticking with me despite my personal GOLD MEDAL in procrastination and unreliability.

Kisses and hugs. Xx

PS. I'll update again tomorrow or the day after I ABSOLUTELY PROMISE. IF I DON'T, SEND HATE MAIL AND I'LL RESPOND.


	19. night won't breathe, oh how we

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that you might recognise. That all belongs to people who do things with their lives.

**Nb**. So, I know I said, AGAIN, that I would have a faster update for you. And I did, technically. I wrote two more consecutive chapters after posting the last one, and even though I wasn't super happy with them, I thought that was about all I could get out.

THEN, I lost my job, and while some might assume that would put one in a rut, I just suddenly had all these ideas and I just had to rewrite. So I'm sorry for the wait, again, but I like to think that hopefully, it'll be worth it.

I'm still not sleeping as much as I should, and this is still un-beta'd. Sorry for all mistakes you come across, and please let me know of all the ones I can fix. :P

.:.

"_Night won't breathe, oh, how we,"_

.:.

Jess forces her back into the room with relative easy, mostly because Caroline's too confused out of her mind to do anything about it. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she's indignant that Jess is talking to her so rudely, but she thinks that really shouldn't be a priority right now. Instead, she pulls at the hand around her neck—using her full vampire force—and wrenches herself free of Jess's grasp.

She stumbles back, gasping the sweet unnecessary air. She has barely done that when she notes Jess coming at her again and she speeds out of the way. On the other side of the room she decides not to pause and take stock of the situation until she's got Jess under control.

Come on, Caroline, a voice in her head says. She can do physical contact. She's beaten Damon before. She can handle this bitch.

The two circle each other for a bit, in the free space of Tyler's room (he lives in a mansion, so the room itself is pretty gigantic) and watch each other. Even while she continues to think about tactics and the risks of particular moves, Caroline manages to get out a very eloquent, "_what the actual fuck?_" 

Jess rolls her eyes.

"Were you born thinking the sun shone out of your ass, Caroline? Or is that something you picked up through the years?"

Caroline scoffs. "Don't try the bitch talk, sweetie," she simpers—deciding that Katherine's condescending route is actually quite helpful in stressful situations because the look on Jess's face is just so _worth it_. "You have to know what you're doing."

Jess lets out a derisive laugh, still circling. In the pause, Caroline lets those senses that Klaus had taught her about stretch out a little more and _yeah,_ how had she not noticed. It's the same sort of shocking moment as when Nick (and at that point he had been Nick) had revealed his vampiric status, but this is so much more irritating, because Jess isn't her super amazing boyfriend.

Jess is the annoying girl whose been irritating her all year.

But there is an upside to the revelation that Jess is as undead as Caroline is. Caroline can remember growing up with Jess—they were actually kind of close in the second grade when they bonded over their barbie doll games. And Caroline's pretty sure that there's a good chance she's older than Jess, in vampire terms.

She knows it doesn't help that much—comparatively, Caroline a baby as well, and when they're both that young there isn't really much of a difference. But still, it gives Caroline the edge.

Just as well, though, because while Caroline's been drawing conclusions, Jess has been making her decision apparently. Caroline only had time to swiftly side step as Jess launched herself through the air with a snarl.

Jess missed by a hairs breadth, but it was enough for Caroline to turn and hit her solidly in the ribs. Jess stumbled slightly, and moved with the kick—getting out of Caroline's reach.

She doesn't attack again, instead hovering, watching Caroline closely.

"Do you know how irritating it is to have to listen to you on a daily basis?" She demanded, sounding winded (hells yeah, good shot Caroline).

Caroline laughs airily. "I'm sorry—are you serious? You're telling me that _I'm _annoying?"

The glare Jess proceeds to give her actually makes the room feel colder, and Caroline can't help but smile. When it comes to Buffy style quips in action, Caroline's been practicing and she's clearly doing well.

"Tell me something." Caroline continues on. "That whole teal theme thing you were going for—was that actually just a nefarious plan—or plain bad taste?"

Jess attacks again, this time a little more triumphant. She's planned for Caroline dodge and catches her with her arm out, pounding Caroline in the chest. Caroline feels a rib break as she's propelled backwards and hits the wall with sudden force. The wall dents slightly, and the bump Caroline gets on her head would have probably given her a concussion if she were still human. As it is, it's just a bit of a pang from the back of her skull.

Jess doesn't let up though, stalking to where Caroline has landed and kicking her solidly before she can get up. She lands two blows to Caroline's stomach, leaving her winded.

Ignoring the pain from that for a moment, more out of necessity (rather than intuition—she just wants the kicking to stop) Caroline blocks the third kick, catching Jess's heeled ankle and twisting it, bringing Jess to the ground with her. Then, never claiming to fight very fair, Caroline goes for the face.

A couple of scratches to the face ruin Jess's formal make up (that's what the bitch deserves), before Caroline has to work on getting Jess's vicious fingernails away from her own face. She grabs Jess's wrists and rolls on top of her, holding her down and trying not to imagine all the perverted comments that Damon would come up with were he observing this particular moment.

Jess continues to struggle and lets out an angry shout. She bucks her hips and flips Caroline—but Caroline manages to use the momentum to roll them over again and manages to keep Jess down. Still, now she's just frustrated.

"So what?" she demands moving her ankles so she can press on Jess's knees, trying to stop her moving her legs. "You just snapped? Decide to reveal that you're a vampire suddenly because I got my way with homecoming—Jesus, I knew you were dumb but I thought you'd have _some _common sense—"

Again, riling up the enemy was probably not smooth—as Caroline's words infuriated Jess, and gave her a sudden rush of power. She bucked again, this time her knees coming free and slamming into Caroline's back. Blinded by the pain, Caroline can't do much more than shout out while Jess turns the tables, and then she's the one being pinned down.

Errantly, she thinks about how much this fight is going to ruin her dress. Christ, what a bitch.

Jess gets a solid hold on Caroline's wrists and slams them down, squeezing too hard and probably spraining them.

"Shut up!" Jess screeches down at her. "Shut up, shut up, _shut up._"

Caroline goes to respond (something super witty about finally crashing under pressure) when she finds her left arm dislocated, with a sudden snap. With a new free hand—Jess slams her hand down across Caroline mouth.

"Shut. Up."

This time Jess kind of whispers the words, and Caroline's eyes are tearing from the pain of the dislocated arm/shoulder. Fuck, of course this is happening to Caroline. Because _really?_ Didn't she have enough to deal with?

Jess leans back slightly, apparently less concerned with Caroline fighting back now that she can't move her arm without a shot of pure pain. Jess moves slightly, so that she's got a knee on Caroline's thigh, pressing down and fuck that hurts like a bitch too.

God, this is humiliating.

Jess takes a deep breath. "I have a message for you." She says with a furious sigh. "I would like to get rid of you right now, but that's not part of the rules and he says he'll kill me if I deviate."

Oh. Right.

Of course.

_Of course _this is Klaus. This just contribute to the absolute mind fuck that is the original vampire. Now she has something else to hate him for. He killed Jess (which, yeah, they weren't exactly friends or anything—but still, Jess was human and she shouldn't have to be a vampire).

Still, it's another stab of pain in her stomach. Just when his lying felt like it couldn't hurt more—he goes and does something like this—ruining it all again.

The tears that she's still consciously attributing to the pain in the arm shift slightly, and even though she won't admit it, Caroline feels disappointed. This is the man—the perfect man—she was in love with. And even though she hated Klaus (fuck off, she _does_), there must have been a part of her that hoped Nick wasn't just a giant lie.

No such luck, it would seem. Klaus is a monster.

Jess is totally unaware of the inner torment Caroline's battling.

"He wants me to tell you that he knows." Jess says. "Did you really think you could get something like this past him? Did you really think he wouldn't see?"

Horrifyingly, a part of Caroline suddenly feels disappointed with herself. Because she let him down.

No. No. She's disappointed because he knows. Because the plan is blown and there's no way that they're going to off him tonight. He'll have a plan. He'll have a back up plan for his back up plan—especially if he's known for long enough.

Caroline makes a noise and apparently that amuses Jess, because she moves her hand from Caroline's mouth and smiles down. "Something to say?"

Caroline squeezes back her tears. "How did he find out?"

Jess laughs. "He's the original, Caroline. He's learnt how to spot a liar."

Well that wasn't a special trait that he shared with her, Caroline thinks bitterly. Is it possible that there's a single person in her life not lying to her?

Jess shoves her one more time, an air of smug finality overcoming her as she pushes herself to her feet. Reaching deftly with her hand, she undoes her ruined hair style and lets the hair fall out. Not sparing a glance for Caroline, she reapplies her lip gloss before turning a smirk on Caroline (who is still lying on the ground, dislocated arm and all, crying like a little girl and ruining all her makeup).

Jess eyes her for a moment, raising a brow and looking way too fucking proud of herself.

"You should know he's not going to spare you. No one cares about the details, or whatever excuse you'll give to him. If you get in his way, he'll kill you." She offers Caroline one more look. Her lips curl some more at the edges and she can't keep the mirth from her face. "Lol."

.

Lol?

Fucking _lol_?

Forget the fact that Jess actually used text message talk, with her voice, after pretty much shattering Caroline (not that she gives a flying fuck about Klaus at this point), but Jess is a hybrid. One of Klaus's hybrids.

It doesn't matter at all to Caroline how conflicted she'd been before. This is just the icing on the fucking cake. From now on Caroline has nothing to say to Klaus. He's going to kill her if she tries to kill him? And he sends fucking _Jess _to come and tell her that? He didn't even have the decency to tell her to her face? Hadn't his tricks at her expense been enough to warrant at least one more face to face?

Apparently not, Caroline surmises. Apparently all Caroline was worth was a beating from _Jess _and a threat.

Well, fuck that, sir, because she'll fight him to the death with every fucking tooth and nail she has.

It's only her anger that motivates her to finally move some more. Sure, somewhere in the back of her mind there's the knowledge that people are depending on her and that she has responsibilities to her friends specifically for this evening. But it's the realisation that if she doesn't get up and help, Klaus will make it through the night that makes her move.

It hurts like a motherfucker, and Caroline can't quite keep the whimper in as she rolls onto her side—leaning all her weight on the good arm, while her other sorts of lies out of the socket. She can feel the cuts on her face slowly healing, and while that would usually comfort her slightly—at the moment, it just reminds her that her arm must be healing itself as well—but in the wrong position.

She lets out a groan, and with the rip it off like a bandaid mentality forward in her mind, she wrenches her arm forward—to the other side. Hot, fresh pain tears through her whole arm and she lets out another cry.

There's a burst of laughter from downstairs and Caroline wonders what the hell people who might have heard her might think. (She is still in Tyler's bedroom, if you think about it). Oh, Christ—more gossip. Because that's what she needs right now.

(Ugh, whatever. The whole school already thinks that she's pregnant with his kid or whatever—what more can she really do?)

Sure enough, the pain in her arm tells her that her bones are trying to refuse themselves—catching in the wrong places. The longer she waits to readjust it and put her arm back in place, the more it will hurt when she has to fix it properly.

Still, there's no way she can put her shoulder back in by herself.

Struggling to get to her feet, still wearing her heels and with only one workable arm, Caroline moved over to the small, simple mirror that Tyler kept in his room. Sure enough, her mascara has run, her hair is ruined and the skin around her shoulder is bright red and burning. There's no way she can go out looking like this and keep the plan under the radar.

If she's going to kill Klaus tonight, then she damn well needs to be smart about it. And she's damn sure he is going to die. It's what the asshole deserves.

Her phone is shattered (also Klaus's fault, no matter the technicalities), so there's no way for her to get Tyler to come to her. The best she can do is try and fix herself enough to go and get Tyler.

She groans again as she jostles her arm, and again, there's a short giggling outside.

Oh. _Oh._

Now, _there's_ an idea, Caroline, she thinks. Hastily, and trying very hard not to bother her arm, Caroline wipes beneath her eyes. It's pretty easy to get rid of the mascara runs—and even if her eyes look a little less awesome than they did, it's not bad. She follows Jess's initial example and simply lets her hair out, ruffling it slightly and attempting to give a messy styled kind of look.

It works, for the most part, and Caroline nods. Taking a moment, she steels herself, before walking towards the door and opening it.

There's an immediate hush from the people outside. Taking it all in, she notes the four teens who stand outside. No one from the cheerleading team (thank god, because gossiping is pretty much an Olympic sport for those bitches), but she can see that one of the two girls in the girl who sits two seats ahead of her in calculus. Two boys are there as well, but they're not on any team and Caroline can't quite remember their names.

It's apparent from the looks on their faces that they know who she is, though.

Sticking her good arm out she beckons to the closest boy. Obediently, he walks towards her, a smirk on his face. (God, Caroline is so fucking sick of smirks).

"Can I help you?" he asks, unable to refrain from snickering slightly. From behind him, his three companions snicker as well.

Caroline does her best not to scowl, and tries to keep the look on her face coy. "Could you grab Tyler for me?" she asks. (She obviously doesn't need to specify who Tyler is—or which of the three Tyler's she's talking about. There's only one Tyler at their school who'd even be remotely worth Caroline's time).

A confused frown appears on the guys face. "You mean he's not already in there with you?" He asks, his eyes wide. Then he sniggers some more.

Okay. Enough is fucking enough. Caroline steps fully from the room, and grasps the collar of tis guy's shirt. She doesn't have the time or patience to check, so she just hopes that this kid and his friends aren't on vervain.

"Go and get Tyler," she tells him, looking right into her eyes, and feeling the control slip into her grasp from his. "And don't tell anyone about this."

The guys eyes go vacant and he nods his head absently. His friends look on aghast.

"What the hell?" One of the girls has time to say.

Seconds later, the three of them are heading downstairs after their friend, wondering why they were upstairs anyway and headed to annoy some chaperone who was friends with Mr. Saltzman. They're not sure why though.

Caroline slumps back inside the room and remembers that there was more work she needed to do before she could relax. Her arm still hurts like a fire all the way through but this is what she needs to get rid of Klaus and she is going to be rid of Klaus.

She ducks to the side of the room, where the head of Tyler's bed rests and she grabs her clutch from beneath his pillow—where she'd shoved it with Jess's tap on the door. The needle doesn't take long to get ready, and she moves it away from the bed. (Summoning Tyler to meet her in his bedroom was perhaps a little suggestive, but there's no way that Caroline would be able to convince Tyler to come near his bed with her—not while he's the only one who knows exactly how much she's interested in someone else. Damn—wait—_was interested_. Past tense, Caroline).

When Tyler knocks at the door—this time she knows it's him because his thumps are loud and clumsy and he calls out her name in confusion—Caroline has the needle hidden underneath her clutch, sitting on the table near where she stands.

"What the fuck?" Tyler says immediately—when he catches sight of Caroline's grossly disfigured arm. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Are you related to Jess?" Caroline demands instantly, skipping the answers and going straight to getting some of her own.

Tyler, confused as hell but understanding that, clearly, Caroline's patience is running thin, shrugs. "Yeah. She's my cousin."

Caroline glared at him. "You don't have any cousins. Mason didn't have any kids."

Tyler frowns some more but shrugs. "I don't know what she really is to me—something like my second cousin or something. My granddad is her granddad's brother. Neither of us really knew until a family reunion a couple of years ago. Why are you asking me this? What the hell happened to your arm?"

Caroline scowls. "Did you know Jess was a hybrid?" Caroline demands. "Because, god help me Tyler, I will _kick your ass._"

Tyler looks two parts shocked two parts horrified with what Caroline's saying, but he holds up his hands defensively—as though she's pointing a gun at him and shouted 'HANDS UP'.

"What—no—she _is_?"

The shock is enough to convince her that maybe, just fucking maybe, Tyler didn't actually know about Jess.

Oh, who is she kidding? Of course Tyler didn't know. She seemed to have been pinning a lot of her blame regarding Klaus onto Tyler, even though he had really given them no reason to not trust him except getting killed. Guilt about what she's about to do to him swells up inside of her and Caroline reminds herself that even though Tyler and she hadn't been on great terms, a part of her loves him—even if it's not the same way anymore.

She doesn't let any of those feelings onto her face though—because that level of compassion will definitely let Tyler know that something's up.

"Uh—_yeah_." Caroline says with an angry nod. "The bitch freaking dislocated my arm."

Tyler, who hasn't really taken his gaze from the angry red marks on her arm since coming in the room, finally jerks his gaze up to meet hers. "Holy shit." He says quickly. "Did you want me to—" he recoils slightly, because he's obviously not super keen to do this for her—but he braces himself. "I can put it back in, if you want."

Caroline nods her head even though her arm screams. It doesn't want to be fucking moved again. "Quickly," she says, motioning for him to come closer to her.

Tyler grimaces but nods grimly. "I've done this before, you know." He says as he comes to stand beside her. "A couple of the guys have had dislocated shoulders at practice, and the coach taught me how to put them back in. I did it for Matt once, when we were freshman."

Caroline refuses to feel nostalgia for a time when vampires didn't exist and Caroline's heart was still beating and Salvatore was just a stupid Italian name from one of the founding families.

"You'll have to use more force." She says, her face set, as her other hand rather down to grip the needle. "I think my arm tried to heal itself and didn't quite manage it."

Tyler frowns. "Shit."

"I know." Caroline responds. "Come on."

Tyler nods and moves forward a little, pushing her a little closer to the desk to brace her. Both his arms come up and gently grip her arm—said limb screams it's protest and Caroline has to inhale some unnecessary air sharply before she controls herself again. "It's going to hurt, Caroline." Tyler warns her.

Caroline nods. "I might hit you." She pauses. "Sorry, if I do. You know—reflex"

Tyler rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything. His eyes tell her to try and keep it under control though. Caroline's grip tightens around the needle in her hidden hand. It'll be a tricky task—giving him the injection and getting through the pain at the same time, but her shoulder had provided the perfect excuse to get him close enough to dose and that's what she needs right now.

Tyler doesn't give her any further warning. He moves quickly, and surely enough their's another solid crack as her arm is pushed back into place. Blinding waves of pain spread through her and Caroline realises that her 'reflex claim' really wasn't far from the truth. In an effort to get away from the feeling in her arm, she spins, knocking him to the side—and as if of it's own omission, her good arm comes around and the needle pierces his neck.

(She's a vampire. She knows exactly which vein to hit).

She injects him quickly, and he's out after just enough time to give her an incredulous look. He's unconscious when Caroline frowns in sympathy. "I'm sorry, Tyler." She says, reaching down and lifting him. She sets him down on his bed, and steps back. He looks peaceful now, completely dead to the world—lying on his bed like he's just sleeping. He'll be pissed in the morning, but she's gotten him out of the way and, if they succeed, hopefully that will be enough to convince him that this was the right move.

If Klaus isn't dead by the time Tyler wakes up tomorrow, however, there'll be hell to pay.

Caroline scowls as she fetches her clutch from its place, and consults her reflection one more time before heading towards the door. "Klaus will be dead this time tomorrow," she repeats to herself as she opens up the room to the outside world.

"Klaus—"

She stops dead, a solid, great smelling chest blocking her exit.

"Yes, love?"

.

**A/N:** Like I said, I'm so much happier with this version of the chapter than I was with the first attempt. And I think that that must be worth the wait.

If it's not, I apologise. I'll get to working on the next chapter immediately. Please review. It's like response for this fic has gone down slightly, which is worrying me. Just some feedback would be good.

Also, a reviewer by the name of _obsessedfaerie _sent me a review for the last chapter letting me know that they'd made a graphic on tumblr for this fic. It's pretty much one of the coolest things I've seen ever and I love it and I thought I wanted everyone to see it (and reblog, if you're a tumblr user). Just google '_Thatvdfic tumblr the guilty ones'_. I'd give you a link but you know how this site is :/

Review!


	20. who can say what we were?

**Disclaimer: **I own season one and season two of the vampire diaries on DVD, and have already ordered my season three, which comes out in September. I'm so excited.

**Nb**. Because of the absolutely over whelming response I got to the most recent chapter, I'm putting this one up within thirty six hours (I _know,_ ho shit, right?) I took a little break today and went to see _The Dark Knight Rises_ with a friend and MAY I JUST SAY, Christopher Nolan is a damn talented man.

Please review for this chapter with as much enthusiasm as you did the last :P

I'm still not sleeping as much as I should, and this is still un-beta'd. Sorry for all mistakes you come across, and please let me know of all the ones I can fix. :P

.:.

"_Who can say what we were?"_

.:.

It's quite a testament to how much Caroline has been through in the last couple of months that with Klaus's sudden appearance, this time, Caroline can only glare. There's no flinching or swearing or panicking. The guy obviously has some pretty bipolar mood swings—what with sending lackies to threaten her on his behalf one second and calling her 'love' the next. And sure, that irritates her—but it's not what she's feeling right now. At the moment, it's just pure anger towards the man who is ripping her emotions to veritable shreds with every decision he makes.

Just the knowledge that he has that kind of power over her pretty much infuriates her. In fact, she wants nothing more than to just grab the asshole, march him outside for him to meet his father.

The second Caroline registers that thought in her head though, something in her freezes and her heart clenches up.

Okay, so maybe it's _her _who has the bipolar mood swings, she thinks. Is it really too much to ask for her body to just freaking listen to her for once. Whatever it is that she feels for Klaus is squashed out—snuffed out—because it isn't going to happen. Not now, not ever and something in Caroline's body just isn't getting the fucking memo.

Do not say it's her heart. Her heart can go fuck itself.

"Shall we?" Klaus offers her a stunning smile that actually makes Caroline _growl_ a little.

Caroline snarls a little. "No." She says immediately, moving to push past him.

Klaus lifts a single hand in her path and Caroline would plough on if the hand wasn't completely level with her boob and she'll be damned if she lets Klaus get to second base when she's this pissed at him.

_Goddamnit_ no. She's never letting him get to second base again, _ever. _Jesus, what is that part of her that won't accept that she's done with him.

So she rocks backwards, resting her weight on her left leg and staring at him defiantly. She folds her arms across her chest and reminds herself that they can't have a word in that room, because she's just knocked out the party host and one of Klaus's guys (even if that allegiance was a facade at the moment).

Klaus nods towards the room. "Just a moment, love." He says, so softly that a part of Caroline wants to just up and forgive him. "I just want to talk to you."

Caroline considers screaming at him again, but then reminds herself that she's past this. She's past this level of anger. Now she's at seething resentment and fury. And yes, a part of her (a big part of her) wants to see him die tonight. But absolutely none of Caroline has thought about what will actually happen if she succeeds, and there's no way she's going to start thinking about that now.

But now is not the time for that. Now is the time for decisions and no matter what parts of Caroline are feeling what, there are some absolutes.

She absolutely cannot let Klaus into Tyler's bedroom.

If she tells Klaus no again, then there's a good chance Klaus will force the situation.

Caroline takes a deep breath. "Not in there." She says with a scowl. Sure, she'll agree to this. What real choice does she have? But she doesn't need to be happy about it.

Klaus smirks. "Weren't you just having your way with my hybrid in there?"

Caroline can't really help it. "Jealous?" she mimics his smug smile and quirks an eyebrow.

"Always," Klaus says.

Caroline feels like her heart has stammered to a stop (which is _stupid _because she doesn't have a heartbeat—but she does a double take and inhales sharply). Whatever. She's a cheerleader. She does well under pressure. She tries not to look too flustered as she brushes off Klaus's response and shuffles slightly, more between him and the door.

"Who told you that I was with Tyler?" she asks, successfully keeping her voice even.

Klaus shrugs and looks around. "It's all around, darling." He says coolly. "Congratulations, you're the talk of the party."

Her eyes narrow as she looks at him and she folds her arms across her stomach again. "You really give a lot of thought to the gossip mill of Mystic Falls High, don't you? Aren't you supposed to have a more _original_ form of intelligence gathering?"

Klaus smirks. "From the mouth of babes, love." He shrugs.

Caroline bites her tongue to stop herself replying too hastily, but she settles for a good glare. "The last round of gossip said I was with _babe_. That's really what you want to base your knowledge on?"

Klaus smirks at her. "Are you trying to distract me, sweetheart?"

He leans in a little and Caroline is suddenly overwhelmed by the scent of the man that she loved so fucking completely. It hurts—it physically hurts—to be this close to him, to be reminded of everything that she lost with his horrifying revelation. Because as much as she doesn't want to admit it, she misses Nick—more and more every day since she lost him. She bites her lip and absolutely refuses to let him know about this.

But there's something in the way that Klaus's eyes run over her face in the next moment that tells her that he already knows. She flushes. "Whatever. Let's get this talk over with."

This time when she goes to move past him, he lets her, falling into step behind her as she heads down the hall. Klaus's hand moves quickly, softly resting at the small of her back and Caroline feels a shot of electricity run up her spine. This is going to be harder than she thought. It was easy to hang up on his declaration of love—it was easy to storm into his house, throw things and storm back out.

But faced with his actual company, and Caroline just wants to dig deep into him and find the man she fell in love with. It's lame, it's pathetic and it's everything Caroline always believed she would be above when it came to boys she was interested in—but it is what it is.

As they walk, they pass the top of the stairs—where Caroline suddenly makes eye contact with Damon and Stefan.

The two Salvatore men pause in their apparently heated conversation when they realise what it is they are witnessing. Hopefully, Caroline thinks, no one knows why it is that Klaus is following her—but the motive doesn't matter. They are watching Klaus herd Caroline into an empty room of the house—and they know that plan or no plan, there's nothing they can do at this point. The three of them versus Klaus is no battle at all. They are no match for him.

Keeping up appearances, Caroline shoots Damon a look that clearly conveys a couple of feelings. She widens her eyes and with a miniscule movement, shrugs her shoulders. What is she supposed to do? Klaus wants to talk to her, and she doesn't want to give anything away. This is the only way to keep Klaus oblivious.

Even though Caroline knows Klaus already knows.

As she continues to move, Caroline catches Jess's wide eyes for a moment, before she looks away. If she has to look at Jess's smug smirk again, there's a chance she'll engage the bitch in a fight to the death.

"In here." Caroline says resolutely, stopping near one of the doors and pushing it open. Klaus bows (yeah, like a real fucking bow) his head at her and with a roll of her eyes, Caroline enters first.

She shoots Damon one more fake frantic look before shutting the door behind them both.

Caroline is suddenly surprised to find that its incredibly quiet in this room. It's not a bedroom (thank god, because Caroline doesn't need to contend with avoiding a piece of furniture while she'll be navigating the Klaus emotional waters). It's Tyler's dad's old study. Not sure why, but sure that there's a reason, the realisation that she's in _this _room makes her tense.

Obviously, Klaus notices.

"What is it?" he asks immediately, as though he has a right to be legitimately concerned.

Caroline tries to look casual. "This is Tyler's dad's study." She tells him.

Klaus frowns. "Did you not like the man?"

Caroline grimaced. "No one liked the man. We liked the _mayor._"

To Caroline's annoyance, Klaus smirks, as though he completely understands what she's saying—made more annoying because she was trying really hard to stay mysterious and confusing.

What the hell, the guy has a thousand years on her. Give her a break.

Klaus just watches her—his eyes soft and piercing at the same time and makes Caroline feel like shifting on her feet and dropping his gaze.

She doesn't. She keeps her head level, her jaw jutted out—as though she's daring him to make her look away. He won't. She'll match him tonight. Because tonight, she will not be some pawn in his game.

"Why does this room confuse you, sweetheart?"

_Damn._ No matter the name, it appears he can still read her better than anyone else. She'll need to work on that in the future—keeping her thoughts her own was a trait she'd always been particularly proud of. Expertly pretending to be a moron was a talent, if anything.

Caroline knows better than to argue. Klaus knows—he _knows_—what she's feeling in this room and there's no point pretending that they both don't know it.

She takes a breath and narrows her eyes.

"They've left his things here." She says. "He died—he's _dead—_and his study looks the same way it did the last time he left it."

She's not at all sure why she's actually telling him this. She could lie—say it's because she doesn't like being reminded of the attempt on the mayors life that ended up with Tyler crashing his car—sending Caroline to the hospital that she wouldn't walk back out of with a heartbeat.

But what the hell—she's telling him and he can just deal with the _truth _for once.

"And why does that bother you, Caroline?"

She knows exactly why that bothers her. How can she be comfortable seeing how Tyler treats his father's death—when it's so dramatically different to the way she and her mother dealt with her father's departure? When he left—left for another man and a promise of a freer life—Liz had rid the house of every reminder of him within two weeks—except for in Caroline's room. A coping mechanism, Caroline knew—but it didn't hurt less. The only reminder Caroline had of her house of her dad was a couple of pictures and some birthday cards. Tyler has the pen his father used for the last time.

But is _now _really the time for her family drama? No the fuck it isn't.

So fucking forget that.

This isn't time for spilling her heart to the same man who just sent a skinny brunette bitch to come and kick her ass. And no way in hell does he get to say her name the way he just did. Her name feels silky smooth in the air—is accent and his tone kind of caressing the word. Caroline clenches her fists.

"What the hell do you want from me?" she demands, finding that her initial 'calm' approach just wasn't going to fly. "Would you like for me to share my secrets with you again—give you more ammunition to use against me? Or would you like to just know what makes me tick—so you can slowly tear me apart, piece by piece? Jesus Christ, can't you just be happy knowing that you've truly fucked me over all in the space of a couple of months?"

Klaus watches her calmly, his face not betraying any other emotion.

Caroline wants to punch him in the face, if only to get away from the horrible passiveness of his face.

How incredibly unfair is it that he can read every single thing she feels after a glance, and she can't get even the slightest hint from his grey eyes.

"I am not manipulating you, Caroline." Klaus finally says, still not really giving any indication of what he feels.

Caroline scoffs. "Why the hell should I listen to you? Why should I trust you? After everything that you've done to me."

Klaus considers her. "I'm in love with you."

There is a pause.

A sudden, stagnant pause.

Caroline feels like in a moment like this, she should be able to stomp her feet and throw her hands in the air and scream at the top of her lungs because seriously—what. the. _fuck? _

"No!" She replied vehemently. "No. You don't get to say that to me. Those aren't words that you can just throw around—original vampire or not."

She takes a shuddering, deep breath. Klaus watches her closely.

"You can_not_ do this to me. You don't get to send a hybrid to threaten me, and then tell me you love me. You don't get to say some magic words and then expect me to absolve you of your sins. You don't get to threaten my friends and my family, and then have me stick around. And you _definitely _don't get to lie to me, and manipulate me and think that saying you love me is going to make me forget that."

As Caroline talks, Klaus remains impassive. It's infuriating and it's horrible but it cements everything that Caroline needs to know.

Because fuck it, she's conflicted. There's still a part of her that wants Nick—wants all of Nick back and wants to forget all of this ever happened. There's a part of her that wants him dead so much that she feels the physical anger screaming and raging to get out. There's a part of her that wants to curl up into the foetal position and rock back and forth until her life comes back under her control.

And even more terrifyingly, there's a part of her that thinks about Klaus—not about Nick—when she thinks about him loving her. She thinks about the sincerity in his voice when he said he was in love with her and she remembers the drawings of their time together.

Klaus frowns. "I didn't send a hybrid after you Caroline." He says.

Right. Of course that's the part of her rant that he was listening to—wait, _what_?

Caroline scoffs. "You're the only person in the world who can control the hybrids. At least think of a freaking plausible lie."

Klaus looks ready to respond when the door bangs open, and five or six other students burst in. They barely even notice that the room is already occupied, two of the group already kissing their way steadily towards Klaus and Caroline.

Klaus smiles grimly. "A distraction, no doubt sent by your allies to make sure I don't harm you."

Caroline fixes him with a solid glare.

"I don't need help with that. I won't let you hurt me anymore, Klaus—and I'll do it all by myself."

.:.

When she walks out of the room, she's feeling distinctly empowered by the whole exchange. Leaving Klaus there, getting the final word and turning on her heel and stalking away was a good feeling. It made her feel like maybe Klaus wasn't someone who could take away all of her self-worth.

But for some stupid, stupid reason it also goddamn _hurts_.

She makes it to the bathroom down the hall and locks the door behind her before she dry heaves into the sink. She doesn't vomit—she's not even sure that vampires _can _vomit—but for the moment all she wants to do is cry.

She stares at herself in the mirror again—the same way she watched herself when she was on the phone to Tyler earlier, making the firm decision to not let her mixed feelings for Klaus effect how tonight was going to end.

It's overwhelming, she reasons. That's all that this is. She's overwhelmed by the fact that she finally gets to kill Klaus tonight. She's overwhelmed by the fact that she's finally said everything she needs to Klaus—pah, _right,_ a voice in her head laughs.

She doesn't have time to dwell on that juicy thought. A tap on the door indicates that her presence in the bathroom hasn't gone unnoticed and for a horrifying moment she thinks that maybe Klaus has followed her—which is just something that she so can't handle right now—but she's reassured by the sound of Damon's voice through the door.

(Yeah—Damon's voice reassured her. That's how much she's freaking out right now).

"Oi Barbie—since you went AWOL on the plan, and went to have a private meeting with Klaus, I thought I'd make sure you get your head back in the game."

Caroline smiles weakly at her own reflection.

"Is that your Damon-y way of asking whether or not I'm okay?" she calls through the door, not entirely able to keep her voice even.

There comes a very audible scoff from through the wood.

"I don't care," he then hastens to reassure her. "But seriously—if you mess this plan up I'll make you wish Klaus had killed you."

The smile on Caroline's face widens. "I'm fine, Damon." She says. "But it's nice that you were worried."

Damon hesitates from the other side of the door.

"Good." He says quietly. "Whatever. Get your ass out here. Did you take care of Tyler?"

"He's in his room." She replies, trying to sound positive and brush over his other order with a casual sort of nonchalance. "He'll be fine in the morning."

This time Damon's scoff is a little more sincere. "_Pfft,_" he rolls his eyes. "Like I care."

One day, in the near future, when Elena and Damon have finally boinked and ridded the world of their nauseating sexual tension, Caroline is going to remind Damon that even when he was a big bad, he wasn't that convincing. She thinks, totally randomly, that maybe she should recall some of this empathetic desperately trying to be evil Damon for future record.

All in good time, she reminds herself. If they make it out of tonight alive.

Damon must be able to hear her laugh through the door because he taps on it again and lets out a little irritated noise. "Why aren't you opening the door?" he demands, kicking the wood.

Caroline wipes deftly under her eyes to make sure that no makeup has escaped, and struggles to look natural as she opens the door. Damon gives her a very obvious once over that proves that that is obviously not the case, and he's not buying it.

"I had to redo my hair," Caroline says, adopting the shallow persona that she knows will send Damon away—marvelling at her vapid state of mind. "This may be a little more eventful that your ordinary school dance, but it's still my homecoming, and I'm going to look damn well perfect."

Damon lets out a scoff, but it works. "Whatever." Damon says. "Just hurry up. Mikael's on his way."

.:.

**A/N: **To those of you who've been waiting for Klaroline interaction, I have finally delivered. But, don't feel ripped off. I know it was only a seven page discussion. I feel that I should give you the hint that the Klaroline interaction coming up in the next couple of chapters should more than sate your desire to see them hash everything out. :P

I hope that now that I'm finally getting back into the hang of writing that reviews might pick up again? Like I said, I was really hoping to get to **1000 reviews** by the time I finish and at the moment there are about five or six chapters to go.


	21. who can say what we are?

**Disclaimer:**__I OWN A MUSE AGAIN GUYS. A MOTHER FUCKING MUSE. Everything else belongs to its rightful owners.

**Nb. **An anonymous reviewer mentioned that there's been an increase in swearing in the last couple of chapters, and told me I should stop it—but I'm not going to. These chapters are the big chapters, where Caroline's feeling overwhelmed and exhausted and when anyone feels like that they swear more and they're quick to anger more. Caroline is a seventeen year old girl whose stuck being seventeen forever, with a one thousand year old vampire confusing the hell out of her, while she plots his death. She'll be prone to the cussing language.

On another note, I have decided that you were all right about the 'mom/mum' debate, and I will be going back and fixing that. You're all welcome :P

Unbeta'd still. Sorry folks.

.:.

"_Who can say what we are?"_

.:.

As Caroline makes her way back into the main area she realises a couple of things. Firstly, that nearly everyone in the senior class has arrived at this point, and that yes, Caroline Forbes planned a kickass homecoming. The music is loud and beating and the student senior class seems to be split about thirty percent inside sixty percent outside. The food seems to be a hit and people seem to be enjoying themselves. The lights that Caroline organised were bouncing off the walls and giving the dance a good tone and even if it wasn't entirely what her attention has been devoted to, she's done well.

It looks like the small amount of time it had taken for her to get a hold of herself in the bathroom was enough for Klaus to join the party as well. As she scans the crowd she notes that she can see him now, playing _beer pong_ of all things, with a couple of kids from the football team—shadowed by some of his trusty hybrids while he plays.

The third thing that Caroline notices after all of this is that Jess isn't near him. And of course, she then turns to look for the brunette, not super keen to have a threat like that hidden from her. Which is when, duh, Caroline turns her head and once again comes face to face with the bitch.

_Goddamn._

"Our mutual friend would like a word with you." Jess declares, as though she's refusing to let Caroline refuse.

Caroline is still reeling from everything she's fucking been through tonight (and seriously, it's only fucking eight o'clock) and is really just not in the mood for more of Klaus's games.

"Tell him he can go fuck himself." Caroline snarls, suddenly furious. Seriously, she needs to sort out her mood swings. But fuck it, she's _exhausted. _

Jess swings her head around and looks at Caroline like she's insane. "Uhm—_no thanks_." She says immediately. "You can deliver that message if you want. I'm not getting my head ripped off my shoulders because of you."

Caroline feels him appear behind the two of them before he speaks, so she's rolling her eyes when the sound of his voice hits her ear.

"Actually love, I think there's a good chance you are."

Jess inhales sharply and spins around to look at Klaus. Caroline notes that back at the beer pong table, there are people looking around in confusion. Klaus wasn't really being particularly subtle tonight, it appeared. Again, Caroline noticed that the movement had again managed to catch the attention of her co-conspirators. From the other corner of the large room, Katherine and Stefan watch the moment closely—and Caroline can feel the heavy stares of Damon and Rick on her neck.

God, _why _is her life so complicated?

Jess doesn't hesitate in speeding away from the two of them, and while Caroline's marvelling at the fact that no one has picked up on the super speed of half the parties attendants, she doesn't quite realise that Klaus hasn't followed after her.

He's still standing next to Caroline, watching her with understanding eyes.

"Nice threat." Caroline snaps at him, rolling her eyes. "I particularly enjoyed the follow through." The sarcasm is enough to declare her departure and once again she is walking away from him, trying not to catch the eye of anyone of the people in on the plan. Jess has vanished again, which is a little annoying, but nothing that Caroline can't handle.

She moves from the large room back to the stairs, so she can see nearly everyone that's inside this large room. From this new position, Caroline can make one more startlingly clear observation.

Mikael has, indeed, arrived.

He's outside. He wasn't ever going to be invited in, but he is standing near the threshold, hidden in the crowd, looking inside. He looks smaller, somehow, in a crowd. The students that mill around him haven't even noticed that they don't recognise him yet. To them, he's just some old dude that's crashed the party—probably one of the parents of some of the less out going students whose come along to chaperone. They don't know that he's the man that started the vampire line. They don't know that he's hundreds of years old.

But then, they don't know the same thing about Klaus, who is standing in the middle of the room—right where Caroline left him—with eager, interested eyes on him from most of the girls in the room.

Caroline assumes that Mikael will look first to see what's going on with his son. The plan in simple. Mikael will draw Klaus to the front of the building—with all Klaus's hybrids outside already compelled. Klaus will be distracted by his father while Damon sneaks up from behind and stabs Klaus through the heart. Caroline can already see the indentation of Damon jacket where the stake sits snugly.

But Mikael isn't looking at Klaus. He's looking at her.

There is a moment, when the rest of the evening fades away and all Caroline can focus on is Mikael. His eyes are harsh, grey and calculating. The smirk on his face is his son's, but so much more terrifying it makes Caroline want to turn and run—and hide inside this house for the rest of her eternity.

(Thank god she's on good terms with the guy whose mum controls the invites to this house).

She doesn't drop his gaze though. It's not out of stubbornness or bravery. It's fear. Pure, horrifying fear keeping her rooted to the spot, too terrified to look away from him for even a moment.

Caroline's stolen blood runs cold as she watches a familiar brunette walk up to his side and mutter a few quick words to him.

Suddenly Jess's words and Klaus's contradiction makes far more sense.

"_He knows." _

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Jess wasn't talking about Klaus. Jess wasn't worried that it was Klaus who would rip her head from her shoulders. Jess was worried that Mikael would hurt her if she didn't deliver his message exactly as she'd been ordered to. Apparently compelling Jess had been as easy as compelling the other hybrids outside.

Because Jess wasn't warning her that Klaus knew about the plot to kill him (which she exposed to him anyway). Jess was telling her, because Mikael had told her to, that Mikael knew about her relationship with Klaus, and he wasn't happy with it.

Holy shit, Mikael _knows._

Caroline can't think of any other slice of information that might warrant such a reaction. Mikael knows about her relationship with Klaus, and from the looks of it—he didn't look freaking happy.

Oh Jesus. Maybe running is the only option, Caroline thinks. If Klaus dies or doesn't die this evening, either way Mikael will be after her.

But the knowledge that Mikael is outside and can't get to her provides at least one welcome realisation. For the moment, while inside the house, Caroline is safe. Caroline has time to think.

Mikael suddenly vanishes from sight and Caroline frowns for a moment, before she _again_ feels a soft hand at the small of her back and smells his amazing smell. Why was it that someone this old smelt so good? Wasn't it like an eternal rule that anyone over one hundred had to smell like moth balls and old wallpaper? (Well, it should be a rule. Otherwise, everything gets thrown off balance).

"What's wrong, love?" his voice purrs in her ear. (Yeah—it's a fucking _purr_).

"What are you doing here?" she asks, her voice hoarse. It's not like she's been crying—but the epiphanies are coming in like it's five o'clock at grand central station and everything is just so freaking overwhelming, that's all she wants to do.

Klaus frowns slightly, looking confused—as though he really doesn't understand the question. Right, because he's the one who doesn't know what's going on right now. Caroline fucking thinks not.

"I thought I was needed—I did just rescue you, love." He ends up replying. "What did you do to piss my hybrid off?"

Caroline gapes at him for a moment, her gaze frantic, scanning every edge of his face, trying to put the dots together. (Of course, when she gets a good look at him, she can see that yes, he is wearing a tux—and looking absolutely super hot in it. Damn girl, now is not the time. (Yeah, but _damn_). How did she not notice that the first time? Their last conversation when they were alone in Tyler's dad's study).

Rescue? Oh right, from Jess. Jess who isn't working for him anymore. Jess who's been compelled by Mikael.

Maybe her lack of observation could be attributed to the anger that had been coursing through her back in that room.

"You're here for homecoming." She states, obviously, blatantly ignoring the question he's just asked, as though the asshole didn't know. "You actually just came for homecoming."

Klaus smirks. "You did invite me, love."

She wonders if '_see you at homecoming, you fucking asshole'_ really counts as a homecoming invitation. It could be a challenge or a shout of abuse but not an invitation. Well, Klaus has been pretty unpredictable thus far, she reasons.

"I didn't—" Caroline still splutters after a moment. "—I mean." She takes a moment to realign her thoughts. She takes stock of her injuries, takes a deep breath and look back up, meeting his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Caroline tenses and turns to look at him, once again ready to tear the guy to pieces when, another fucking epiphany comes to her.

She seals her hand around his arm before she really thinks about it—not that he reacts in anyway. She looks at him urgently as the thought whizzes through her head.

"You know." She whispers to him, so quietly that she knows none of her vampire allies will hear her. "You know, don't you?"

Klaus simply frowns at her.

Caroline swallows, but she continues on.

"You heard. I know you did. You must have. You know why I'm here tonight." She presses.

The thought is swinging through her head. The day at the change room, in that lingerie store in New York when Elena had come to tell her the plan and Klaus had interrupted it. When Caroline had hung up the phone and gone to tell him everything and he'd stopped her.

He'd fucking _stopped her._

But, Caroline thinks—it must be because he heard the phone call. Because that was the only reason he was with her at all—to get information from her. And the reluctance to have her say it to his face must have been a ploy to make him appear more trustworthy to her. But he must have heard—he _must _have heard.

Klaus's face continues to betray nothing.

Caroline can't help it. She tugs insistently at his arm and scowls. "You heard—when we were at that store in New York—you heard everything."

Klaus considers her for a moment.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, sweetheart," he finally says.

Caroline is literally about three seconds away from stomping her foot on the ground and having a full blown tantrum. Because he knows. He must know.

She leans close. "I was trying on underwear and Elena called me and you heard everything—I know you did—because you wouldn't waste your time with me for any other reason."

Klaus frowns.

"If you're expecting me to get anything from that sentence other than the reminder of what you look like without clothes, then you're going to be sorely disappointed, love."

There's a faint ringing in Caroline's ears. He's joking about this. He's fucking _joking._ Which means that he doesn't fucking know.

Right. She needs to sort out some of the space in her head.

Mikael knows about her and Klaus. Mikael is here to kill Klaus. Klaus doesn't know about Mikael. Klaus wasn't lying when he said he hadn't sent Jess. Klaus said he loved her. Klaus doesn't appear to think that anything else is going on.

Klaus doesn't know about the plan.

Which means, Caroline notes with an uncertain clarity, that there's a very good chance Klaus will die tonight.

The thought it's her like a stake to the gut and she actually inhales so sharply it hurts.

Until now it had been easy to let her confusion with Klaus remind her that he was the bad guy and this was what he deserved. With the thought that Jess was his attacker, and that Klaus knew all about everything, the fight for his death felt fair.

But now, Klaus is just a victim. Someone who she's lured to this house with the intention of killing—someone who came to her tonight and told her he loved her.

And Caroline gets it. There is a part of her that knows that Klaus is the bad guy. He wants Elena's blood and he wants to create hybrids. He's been alive for one thousand years and he's been killing people every single one of those days.

But Klaus is a vampire. And so is Caroline.

And the first day Caroline was a vampire, someone died at her hand as well. And she's damn sure that her body count would be higher if she'd been turned one thousand years ago.

Caroline barely thinks before she whispers this next thing.

"You shouldn't be here. You should go."

It vaguely registers to her that she has just betrayed her best friend in the entire world for a man who has lied to her for about eighty percent of their relationship. One hundred percent of their _positive _relationship.

Klaus's eyes widen for a second and for a moment Caroline feels like this is the first time she's ever seen him react emotionally to something and not hide it from her.

It makes Caroline forget about Elena again.

"Please get out of her. Please." Caroline whispers. Then she pushes roughly at his chest and he actually fucking _stumbles_ before she passes him and stalks into the foyer.

.:.

Of course, Caroline gets a solid ten seconds of alone time before she's suddenly around all of her friends and Katherine, staring at her like she's just gone insane.

"Did you actually just _shove_ Klaus?" Katherine demands. She leaves a pause in the air for a moment while watching Caroline closely. "I _knew _there was a reason I turned you."

Caroline rolls her eyes and scoffs because the only reason Katherine turned her was to get at Elena and the Salvatore's because Caroline's never been more than a pawn in any of their games. Until now, that is, and Caroline thinks that maybe there was a good reason she was left out of the happenings because she's just fucking betrayed them all for Klaus.

Hopefully the look on Caroline's face conveys how much she doesn't give a flying fuck about Katherine's lies.

"What are you thinking?" Stefan demands angrily. "We are trying to stick to a plan here—and if he even gets a hint that something's wrong, everything is going to fall to pieces."

Caroline grimaces. Oh sweetie, she feels like saying. I'm afraid he's got a lot more than a hint.

Instead, so attempts to look defensive. She goes to defend herself with words, but Damon cuts in.

"Why does he keep talking to you?" he demands. "He took you to Tyler's study—and then just now. What does he want to talk to you about?"

Caroline lets out a frustrated growl. "Look." She says angrily. "If I didn't shove him, then he would _know _something's up. I don't like the guy—I don't like it when he talks to me and if I just sat there and smiled while he was horrible then he would know that we're planning something."

What a load of bullshit. Caroline's pretty much improvising here, seeing as she just betrayed all of these people, but it looks to be working. Only Damon is still watching her through narrow eyes.

Stefan scoffs. "I'm going to get Mikael. You better not have screwed anything up, Forbes."

Stefan vanishes leaving her alone with Damon and Katherine. Soon, Katherine too steps back. "I guess I'm needed outside." She simpers with a smirk, before backing out of the front door.

Rick comes up to stand at her side, which is a welcome distraction. "Where are we?" he asks.

"Mikael's just outside." Damon declares. "We're going to confirm everything and then send for Klaus."

Caroline tries to look casual, and not let her terror show on her face. "Tyler's been taken care of—Klaus won't be able to manipulate the sire bond." (Not that the sire bond was exactly present any more, because apparently defending her honour had gotten rid of that—but no one else could know that for the moment, because the details were so delicate). "He's in his bedroom. I locked it from the outside and he won't be waking up for a while."

Rick grimaces. "He's going to be pissed when he wakes up."

Caroline shrugs, trying to sound nonchalant. "I can handle it." She says solidly. "It'll be fine."

Rick shuffles slightly on his feet and nodded his head slowly. "I hope so." He mutters, and Caroline gets the feeling that he's not just talking about Tyler and his attitude when he wakes up. Everyone looks as nervous as she feels—everyone's worried about how tonight is going to turn out.

Damon turns to Rick. "Go and get Bonnie," Damon says. "We might need her."

Rick frowns slightly at the order so Caroline hastily adds, "Please. He meant to say please."

Rick rolls his eyes and the two vampires hear him mutter, "I'm sure he did," as he stalks out of the room, leaving them both alone.

When the tap catches their attention, Caroline just knows that the new, slow knock on the front door behind them is the man Stefan had just left to go and find. Her still heart seizes up. The door twists and opens, and Mikael stands with a smirk on the threshold.

"That was quite a performance, Miss Forbes." He says softly.

Damon hears. She can practically hear him frown at the words, because he doesn't have much of a clue why Mikael would be saying that to her. Caroline fights valiantly to remain looking calm.

Jess is standing at Mikael's side and he turns to her. "Go inside and find my son. Bring him back to me." He orders, and Jess nods, stepping easily into the house and heading away from them. Mikael keeps his gaze on her now.

"I'm afraid there's been a bit of a change of plans," he announces. "It seems we have a traitor in our midst."

Even if it's just Damon in the room, the sudden way his gaze swings to her hurts. It feels like a physical blow and all Caroline can think is, holy shit, this is it. This is the moment when she loses her older friends because of a guy. This is the moment when Caroline becomes that girl who would chose a boy over years of friendship. '

Mikael only smirks. "Did you really think, Caroline, that you could get away with it. Fucking my son and trying to stay on the good side? I hope it was worth it."

Stefan, who appears from behind Mikael, strides inside with a determined look in his eye. Caroline recalls that this is bat shit crazy Stefan who could very easily kill her. The anger that rolls of Damon now feels hot and frightening.

Caroline goes to get out of Stefan's reach but he's older and stronger than she is. Stefan doesn't attack her. Not in so many words. There is a momentary tussle and Caroline fights to escape him, but he takes one rough handle on her shoulder—the injured one, so pain shoots through her arm immediately—and spins are around, locking her in a headlock. She struggles for a moment, before Stefan wrenches her head to the side—fangs bared, ready to rip her head off if he needs to.

" Klaus is going to _love _this." Damon declares turning his furious glare to Caroline. "You've betrayed Elena for this, Caroline. You've done exactly what he wanted you to. Christ, you're pathetic."

Caroline flinches away, but tries not to let it show as she stares back at him. She knows better than to reply though. Mikael is the one to talk next.

"Do not be a fool and assume that my son is capable of love." He snarls at Damon. "Look where that thought got your friend."

Damon sends her a look so venomous Caroline shrinks a little. "She's not my friend."

Caroline is saved having to respond to that by Mikael's quick order. Damon vanishes and Klaus comes round the corner, taking in the situation.

Again, his eye widen a bit when he catches sight of Caroline and Stefan, but he reigns in the reaction. He swings his eyes to his father and smiles bitterly.

"What can I do for you, father?" he asks, his voice deceptively calm.

Mikael smirks.

"You can leave your sanctuary and come and face me like a man, Niklaus." Mikael says evenly.

The next couple of minutes move quickly. The revelation that all of Klaus's hybrids are under Mikael's compulsion throws Klaus for a moment, but he comes back saying that he doesn't need them. There are tears in his eyes now though, which are just making Caroline more and more conflicted.

"Don't tell me you didn't see this coming, Niklaus?" Mikael sighs. "Your defeat at my hand has been coming for a long time."

Klaus shakes his head resolutely. "You will never defeat me, Mikael. You may not be my father but you created me. All this destruction, all this death—the guilt belongs to you. And that will be your destruction."

Mikael smiles thinly and shakes his head. The way they speak to each other is frightening. Klaus isn't holding back the knowledge and power that comes with one thousand years any more—not like he has been. Every word that leaves his mouth drips with age and power and it send shivers up Caroline's spine.

"And the guilt for the death of your doppelganger?" Mikael says suddenly, pulling Katherine into the open and shoving a knife against her back. "Where will that guilt rest?"

Klaus swallows thickly.

Mikael smirks. "I won't threaten the girl you've been consorting with—I know you, Niklaus—and you could never truly care for something other than yourself. But this doppelganger is something you need—and you will come outside and fight me for her."

Klaus doesn't look at Caroline. He keeps his gaze on his father—or at least the man who raised him—and on Katherine (who he thinks is Elena). Caroline doesn't care for being called 'the girl' but for the moment it doesn't matter.

Klaus shakes his head.

The knife plunges into Katherine's back swiftly and without mercy—while Stefan's fingers dig into the sensitive skin near Caroline's arm and she lets out a shout of pain. The combined attacks are enough to distract Klaus and that is all the opening that Damon needs.

Stefan's grip is too strong for her, but Caroline has to do something.

And it's a betrayal, she knows it is. This is her, making the decision. She doesn't want Klaus to die tonight. It's clear—too clear—far clearer than it's been before and Caroline doesn't know what she's going to do tomorrow or how any of this is going to work, but she knows that she doesn't want Klaus to die.

So she shouts out a warning, screaming his name.

.:.

**A/N: **WHOOO ANOTHER POST WITHIN TWENTY FOUR HOURS A-BOOYAH. I am loving having a muse again (touch wood), and it feels great to get this story out before I go back to class. I have a super definitive plan for this fic now, and I can tell you that, including an epilogue, there will be twenty five chapters in total (if all goes to plan). I will try to have the next chapter to you in another twenty four hours, and I'll work on keeping the update time in that timeframe.

If you guys could work to getting the review count up to **1000? **That would be awesome! Thanks for all the awesome reviews thus far and for last chapter. Absolutely overwhelming response guys :P :P

PS. One of the many reasons for my returning muse may be that two days ago I went out and bought seasons one through four of _True Blood_ and have been watching it with a religious ferocity over the last couple of days. Sweet Jesus that is good television. Eric Northman, take me now.


	22. now it's longing for a home

**Disclaimer:**__I possess a penchant for possessive love and a shittonne of debt for my new uni fees (whoopee). Please don't sue me for infringing anyone's rights.

**Nb. **Admittedly, this one was a bit more that twenty four hours. Maybe twenty five or twenty six? I didn't really know how I was going to get this one out. Thanks for the AMAZING response to the last couple of chapters. I don't really expect the same amount of reviews for this chapter, especially since Klaus is sadly vacant (again) and there's way less action—but I assure you, Klaus will be back next chapter, and everything in this chapter needed to be said. Big plot points, et such.

Unbeta'd still. Sorry folks.

.:.

"_Now it's longing for a home," _

.:.

Obviously, screaming his name the way she did didn't do much to help anything—except maybe earn her a tired look from Mikael. What actually happens inside the house is far more important. Stefan shoves her away from him, flinging her towards the wall while Damon knocks Klaus to the ground and straddles his stomach. Caroline's head collides with the solid side of the Lockwood family foyer, and she can't move for a second.

All she can do is watch as Stefan tackles Damon, shoving his older brother away from the original and pushing him to the ground, holding him there.

Damon's eyes are frantic.

"What are you _doing_?" he demands of Stefan.

The only response that Stefan gives is a frantic look, but other than that, he just has to hold Damon down. Klaus makes the most of the situation as it has turned out, and within seconds of spotting the white oak dagger that Mikael had supplied them with, it's in Klaus's hand and then embedded in Mikael's heart.

The shout that Mikael gives out as the wood pierces his heart is horrible, and the flames catch immediately. Klaus doesn't stop to watch though, instead snatching his hand out and grabbing Katherine before she can flee. His hand circles around his neck and he holds onto her tightly before he turns back to Caroline.

"Run." He orders her, giving looks to both Damon and Stefan, who are rolling on the floor fighting. "Now."

And she's not proud of it but Caroline can't help it. Once she's on her feet, she's out of there, running as fast as she can—with no clear destination in sight.

.:.

She ends up at her grandmother's house, for the night. She's had an invite there since the last time she visited, even though her grandmother has no idea what Caroline really is. She calls her mom and tells her to not let Damon inside if he visits, and that she's alright and then she asks if Liz can drop some things by in the morning. She sleeps in her underwear because she doesn't have anything else and she doesn't call anyone (a little because her phone is smashed to bits but they have a landline at her grandma's so it's mostly because Caroline's a coward).

Of course, Caroline hadn't been expecting to receive a call.

When Caroline picks up, its only because her grandma's in the kitchen cooking scrambled eggs for the two of them and because she hadn't expected anyone to figure out where she was so quickly, Elena's soft voice on the end of the line takes her completely by surprise.

"Caroline."

Shit. _Shit._

Once she's quashed the urge to hang up without another word, slamming the phone down and continue trying to hide in ignorance of the outside world—Caroline tries to talk herself into this. How does one respond to one word, her name—with so much meaning behind it.

She decides to go with the obvious.

"Elena." She breathes out, because she doesn't have anything else to say.

There's a pause.

It's almost funny, what with the multitude of things that need to be said between the two of them, that Caroline can't think of a single word. There were moments, when she was younger and still had a heart that worked, and she'd stand in her room and pretend that she and Matt were living happily ever after. She'd pretend that they'd come back to Mystic Falls from New York, where Matt was a business man and Caroline was a news reporter, for their ten year high school reunion and Caroline would finally come face to face with Elena after a couple of years of barely speaking—and they'd remain civil, but Caroline would have the life she'd always wanted.

It was never that Elena didn't—Caroline never wanted Elena to be unhappy—but just imagining that, growing up, Caroline would have everything she wanted sent a thrill up her spine.

Forgetting the fact that Caroline would never grow old now—there was still that dialogue from their imagined reunion in Caroline's head. All the things Caroline wants to say to Elena, about everything that ever happened between the two of them.

But as it comes—as the opportunity finally presents itself and Caroline finds herself suddenly able to say those things—her body refuses.

Because above all else, Elena is Caroline's best friend. (Well, one of two, anyway). And Caroline has let her down.

Fuck that. Caroline has pretty much stabbed her in the back.

And there's no good way to start a conversation about the specifics that entails.

In the end, it's a flat sentence.

"Damon told you." Caroline says. She doesn't need to stop and guess which brother it is that explained to Elena. He probably wasn't gentle about it at all. They probably arrived back at the Gilbert house, Elena still foolishly hoping that everything had gone to plan, and Damon would have snapped.

("What happened? I'll tell you what happened, Elena. We were all fooled by a fucking cheerleader into thinking that she actually had a soul.")

"Yes." Elena replies. "He did. But I'd like to hear it from you."

What? Caroline feels like asking. What do you want to hear? Do you want to hear exactly what it was that motivated Caroline to hurt them all like this? Or do you want to hear how Caroline had managed to lie to them for so long? How Caroline could have been with Klaus and pretending to be on their side? How long it had been going on?

In the end, Caroline thinks that yeah—that's probably exactly what Elena wants to hear.

"Klaus is Nick." She says in the most plain way she possibly can.

Elena frowns. "As in—?"

Caroline nods, and continues, even if Elena can't see her. "Yeah. Nick my perfect boyfriend turned out to be Klaus, the original." She grimaces. It still sounds horrible, no matter what way you put it.

"Turned out to be?" Elena asks.

Caroline sighs. "Long story."

Again, the girls leave a small pause. This time it's Caroline who's said something with a hidden meaning to it. Long story, herein meaning—it's a long story and I'm not sure if you'll stick around to hear it.

"I've got time." Elena replies, because she is actually a perfect human being.

And then it's all a matter of where the hell Caroline should begin. In the end, she just explains how she met Nick. She talks about the club where they had their first date and then finding out he was a vampire and then realising she didn't much care because didn't that only make Nick that much more perfect for her? She talks about New York and the Broadway play and the empire state building—even if she leaves the _happenings _from that building out, because she knows that describing her sex with Klaus isn't a friendly duty that Elena should suffer through. More than that, Caroline talks about their study sessions and their quick sweet kisses and about how Nick refused to let her hide from him. How he demanded to know the real girl.

Her voice gets heavy when she explain how she found out. It's the part Elena's been waiting for—the part that will determine exactly how much Caroline has stabbed them all in the back.

"Tyler bit me." Caroline says softly. "He saw me get into a car with Nick after school and he thought I was working for him. He was angry that Klaus could be the one that broke the two of us up. And we got into a fight and he bit me."

Elena, who has been listening with rapt attention—enough to earn her some sort of medal in the field—inhales sharply.

"But Caroline—a werewolf bite?"

Caroline grimaces. "Hurt like a bitch? Yeah, so I found out."

Elena is still putting the dots together. "The cure?"

"Is Klaus's blood," Caroline once again finishes for her. "I'm not sure how he found out—I was pretty out of it at the time—but he did. And he came over, told me he loved me, gave me his blood and left."

Elena doesn't respond to this. She just waits silent, patiently for Caroline to continue.

Caroline does. She goes on to explain the anger—the sheer fucking fury—that came with his revelation. How she threw herself into their attempt to kill him so that she could squash the feelings of hurt and betrayal—and the guilt over falling for something so obvious.

"It wasn't your fault, Care—you couldn't have known."

Caroline shakes her head resolutely. "I could have and I should." She says stubbornly. "There's no excuse for being as reckless as I was—I mean, a brand new vampire who doesn't like talking about his past suddenly shows up, interested in me, when there's a big bad original on the loose? Anyone else would have at least been suspicious."

Elena sighs but doesn't argue.

Instead she says this:

"I don't understand—if you hated him so much—why did you help him last night?"

The way the words come out physically hurt Caroline. There's a tilt to Elena's voice—a change that tells Caroline that Elena is close to tears. Of course she is. Elena is asking why, if Caroline was telling the truth, would she then chose to stab Elena in the back?

Caroline licks her lips.

She's been asking herself that question all day. Why she did what she did and what all that betrayal could possibly accomplish in the long run. She doesn't want to say that she loves Klaus because there's a jump from where she is, and where that stands that she's not ready to make yet. But she doesn't hate him and she doesn't want him dead.

In the end, because Caroline can't think of any other explanation at all, she goes with the simple. She sticks to what she knows, for certain, inside her own head.

"Now that I know him—I can't imagine a world without him in it." Caroline says softly. "I know he's a monster and I know he's done horrible things—but the things he did with me were so wonderful and perfect that there must be some semblance of a person in there."

Elena is silent so Caroline just keeps talking.

"I know this probably means that you'll never talk to me again—you'll never forgive me for this—but I can't help it. I'm a vampire, and I've done bad things but I'm still me. Why can't it be the same for him?"

The pause that's left now—because Caroline doesn't have anything else to say that wouldn't be a rambling repeat of what she's just said—is terrifying. All Caroline can hear for a couple of solid seconds is Elena's slow breath, breathing down the phone while she tries to take all this shit that Caroline's unloading on board.

Finally, with one final shaky inhalation, Elena speaks again.

"Come to the boarding house," she says. "I want to talk to you, not some phone."

.:.

Caroline stresses for a couple of minutes. Well, no, she stresses the whole time, but it's only for a couple of minutes that she sits in her grandma's arm chair and freaks out about all the things that could possibly happen to her while she's going to the boarding house. When she finally reaches the Salvatore mansion, it's only an hour later, which Caroline assumes is quite impressive if you count how much she really doesn't want to be here. She can see Damon's car in the driveway, Stefan's in the garage and Elena's boxing both of them in. (Lol, isn't that just a metaphor and a half).

In the time it took her to get out of her grandma's chair and over to the boarding house, Caroline has also gone to check in on her mum, taken her dress to the dry cleaners, had a second shower (the feeble dripping of the shower at her grandma's was not up to any standard that Caroline has set for cleanliness), and changed into some of her own clothes (jeans, singlet top, leather jacket).

But now that she's standing out of the front of the building that holds all the people she's just betrayed, she can suddenly think of about a million other things she should take care of.

Eventually, she just acts as impulsively as she can in a situation like this, and with the 'just do it' mentality that Nike has drilled into her from a young age, she walks to the door and knocks.

Elena opens it and smiles brightly, reaching forward and pulling Caroline into a solid, warm hug.

_Yeah._

If Caroline had been expecting anything, it definitely hadn't been that. Still, she awkwardly lifts her arms to hug Elena back, and looks around with a frown.

In the background, Damon has just rolled his eyes at their embrace and poured himself a drink of scotch. He avoids looking in the direction of his brother—his left, where Stefan is sitting tightly on the cough, avoiding looking at anyone.

"Is it just us?" Caroline asks nervously, looking around to see if she's missed Bonnie or Alaric anywhere else. God, she just wants to avoid Bonnie forever. Way to prove everything Bonnie's ever thought about vampires right, Caroline.

Damon glares. "Just us three, and the traitor."

On the couch, Stefan stiffens, but Caroline doesn't notice much because she's too busy flushing and looking at her feet. She shifts slightly, still hovering awkwardly at the door. Elena is still smiling, her hand around Caroline's wrist.

"What are you doing?" Elena asks, when Caroline hesitates at the threshold. "Come in." She tugs, almost _playfully_, and Caroline lets herself be pulled inside.

Damon rolls his eyes some more, but strolls to sit down in the couch opposite Stefan. Again, instead of meeting his brother's eye, Damon decides that the scotch he's already half finished requires some heavy analysis, and keeps his gaze trained firmly on the amber liquid.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Elena says immediately. It looks like she's going to go for another hug at this point in which case Caroline will officially have not a single clue what was going on. Damon was obviously still resenting her—but she'd expected full on bodily violence when she arrived, not a sullen, almost passive aggressive remark about her actions.

And she certainly hadn't expected Elena to be so lovely about everything.

The Elena she'd spoken to on the phone sounded pained, frustrated and exhausted. This Elena seems a little upset, but not at all the same. It's like she's disappointed that Klaus isn't dead, but she's already ready for their next attempt.

Caroline swallows thickly.

"Look," she steps into the room, arms up in the universal sign of surrender. "I know that you're all pissed, and I know that you have every reason to be—but just, I need you to hear why I did it."

Elena came up behind her, and rubbed large circles on her back, comfortingly. Caroline barely stopped herself from turning to look at her incredulously—but couldn't quite fight off going tense when Elena touched her.

"We were just worried, Care," Elena says softly. "We didn't know what had happened."

Caroline nods her head slowly, still confused out of her mind.

"Well, I tried to explain on the phone—"

Elena starts. "What phone?" Her gaze swings accusingly to Damon. "Caroline called?" she demands. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"

Damon's eyes narrow, but at Elena, not Caroline. "Don't ask me," he says. "I'm not the one keeping secrets and stabbing their family in the back."

Caroline makes a soft, hurt noise—but no one takes much notice. Damon's finally met his brother's gaze, and was shooting Stefan one of the coldest glares Caroline had ever seen.

"Why don't you ask my brother?" Damon suggests bitterly.

Stefan stands immediately, looking frustrated. "Klaus would have _killed _you, Damon!" he shouts. "I did what had to be done."

Damon rolls his eyes. "Klaus _wouldn't _have killed me, _Stefan,_ because he would have been _dead._"

Caroline's head starts to spin. What the hell was going on here? Number one, this argument that had sparked Damon's and Stefan's heated talk was irrelevant anyway, seeing as it had been Elena that had called Caroline. And number two, why on earth weren't all three of these people in the room demanding answers from her.

"He set up precautions, Damon." Stefan snaps. "If he died, all of Klaus's hybrids had orders to kill you immediately. I wasn't just going to let you _die._"

Damon rolls his eyes.

Elena chooses this moment to step in. "Guys," she says, effectively silencing both brothers. "We will try again. Klaus is not unkillable—and there is no reason to think that we can't find another way."

The boys continue to glare at each other.

Elena turns back to Caroline. "I'm sorry about them." She says. "I'm really glad you're alright. We were so worried when you didn't come back here last night. We thought maybe Klaus had done something with you."

She pulls Caroline into another hug before letting go.

"Maybe you should go," Elena continues. "It'll take them a while to sort this out and you probably need to go sort things out with Tyler."

Tyler? Tyler. Right.

What?

Caroline's confused look is obvious and Elena sighs. "I know he's angry with you for vervaining him—but he has to know that him being around was a risk." She sighs again. "Anyway, I hope you can sort it out."

Everything occurs to her in that moment, and with a horrifying look, Caroline hopes she's wrong.

"Where's your necklace?" Caroline asks, probably sounding a bit random.

Elena frowns, and looks down at her neck, like she's only just realised the piece of jewellery is missing. It's Damon's necklace—not the one Stefan gave her when they met. But it's nowhere to be seen and it's definitely not around Elena's neck.

Elena frowns. "I must have taken it off to shower." She says. "Damn. I'll have to go get it."

Caroline nods, kind of numbly.

Elena's kind of see her to the door and Caroline mumbles a goodbye before closing the door behind her. Immediately, she wants to go throw up in the grass—if only she could still do that. Instead, she's left with a horrible nauseous feeling, her brain still trying to figure everything out.

Because it looks like Stefan and Damon and Elena don't remember. They don't remember a thing about Caroline's betrayal or anything that Caroline had just said to Elena over the phone.

And there's only one person who is powerful enough and has a motive to do that to them.

(And Caroline has made out with him).

.:.

**A/N: **Had a day of retail therapy yesterday which was exactly what I needed. Today, I've got to do some work on the house, finish my RSA course, amend my resume (which is something I am _dreading_) and send it in to about ten shops that I'm interested in working at. So trust me when I say that writing this was a pleasure, and any reviews that this chapter gets will be THE BEST PART OF MY DAY.

So yeah, if you could please review again? I have just been loving reading all of the feedback, and it's really what's motivating (guilt tripping) me into writing and finishing this story before class starts again on the 13th.

Again, I'll try to have the next chapter to you this time tomorrow. And if I keep that trajectory up, then this fic should be over and done with on Sunday. (And seeing as it's Thursday in Australia, I think that means it'll be a Saturday for all you people in America—jeez, time zones are confusing).


	23. this is the season for dreaming

**Disclaimer: **I own a slowly declining ability to write original disclaimers, but an even fiercer desire to not be an author who gives up on them. Boom. Don't sue.

**Nb. **Wow, I can honestly say I wasn't at all expecting the kind of response I got to the last chapter. I thought it was more of a filler and less people were interested. You people do spoil me though, because it was about equal. Well, again I have to apologise for the update time. I know I promised yesterday, but just as I sat down to finish the chapter, I got one of those headaches where you can't look at anything brighter than black, and I ended up spending the day with my head under like six pillows and four blankets and wishing for a rubber mallet with which to bang my head in. No matter now, though, because I am better and you have your chapter :) In this chapter we'll see some Tyler, some Klaus and a whole lot of neurosis from Caroline Forbes. Get excited.

PS. Chapter titles have been getting consistently shittier because I'm running out of song lyrics. :/ Good thing I've only got two chapters left after this :P

.:.

"_This is the season for dreaming,"_

.:.

The first place Caroline heads is the Lockwood mansion. After everything that's happened in the last couple of days, anyone would think it's the last place in the world she wants to be, but she has to be sure. When she gets to the door, she's greeted by Tyler's mom, who, while a little annoyed, doesn't look too bothered by Caroline's presence. She lets Caroline in graciously, telling her that Tyler's in his room—where he passed out.

"Oh, and Caroline?" Mayor Lockwood calls after her as she moves to head up the stairs.

Caroline pauses on the stairs.

"Could you talk to Tyler about his drinking? I read an article in news that said binge drinking was hitting an all time high, and I don't want him to be passing out like this all the time." She says it with a smile and Caroline nods, trying not to look flustered.

But it did remind her that yes, Tyler would probably have words to say to her regarding the rather large quantity of vervain that Caroline had injected into his system the night before.

She knocks on his bedroom door rather timidly, and sure enough a horribly pale, angry looking Tyler with dishevelled hair and a glare answers the door. When he realises who she is, his glare deepens and he grits his teeth.

"Get in here." He orders, hand shooting out and grabbing her arm, yanking her into the room.

(It's nice that even when he's this angry with her, he goes for her good arm and not the still smarting one that was dislocated).

Caroline allows herself to be tugged inside, and once the door is closed behind them, decides that a timid apologetic look is the best way to go.

"Sorry?" she offers.

He glowers back at her for a silent moment before letting out a frustrated noise. "I was fixing your arm," he growls. "I literally put your shoulder back in its socket and _you stabbed me._"

It was a fair enough summation of the events that took place last night, but isn't anything that brings her to learning the truth. Surely Tyler could understand why Caroline had to do it, even if she went on to stab them all—in less literal sense—in the back a little later. There's an itching sort of feeling in her stomach that makes her want to jump about a little, desperate to make sure that Tyler still knows.

But she has to spend time on her apology first, because believe it or not, she needs Tyler these days. He's a big part of her life, and more than that—he's turned out to be pretty decent guy and she likes having him around.

"I'm sorry," she implores, probably looking way too pathetic for her own good. "Look, it was the only way for us to know that you weren't going to go back on everything. Sire bond or not."

Tyler throws her a dirty look. "Right—because there's no way to get rid of that, right?"

Caroline starts slightly, eyes widening. Hadn't Tyler broken that? Or at least thought that he had? It was all kind of confusing when he'd told her it happened—because there was a lot to be sceptical about when Tyler told her that indignation on her behalf was enough to break it—but it's the words that make everything more confusing.

Is he being sarcastic? Caroline can't really tell at this point. She's tired, and she's confused about pretty much everything in her life at this point, and it's just fucking hard to tell.

"Tyler," Caroline says softly.

Tyler shakes his head immediately. "No—_no—_Caroline. We broke up so there's no reason for this to be a calm conversation. We broke up _because _of Klaus—how much freaking loyalty do you really think I have for the guy?"

Caroline grimaces, because even though it's still not certain, she's pretty sure that if Tyler _could _still remember he'd be yelling at her for other things.

"I think that we don't know if you have a choice or not." Caroline says slowly.

It's messed up when Caroline suddenly wants nothing more than for Tyler to glare viciously at her and snap something about her. ("Not like the choice _you _had, huh? I mean, he sired me. All he did was bang you. Is he really so good that you would betray your friends for him?")

But it doesn't come. Instead, what Caroline gets is a frustrating look of sadness.

"What do I have to do to convince you that he doesn't control me?" Tyler demands. "Because I know there's the sire bond—but that's it. And there's more to me than some obedient _dog._"

Caroline flinches. "I get it—but Klaus," she struggles with this next bit. "Klaus isn't above compulsion."

No, Caroline thinks ironically. He really, _really _isn't.

Tyler scoffs. "You've met him like twice, Caroline. What would you know?"

Sucking in a harsh breath of cold air, Caroline watched him with wide eyes for a moment, scanning every inch of his face. Okay, okay. Tyler doesn't remember either. Caroline's alone in this, and now that that's the case, Caroline realises how it was a comfort to have Tyler there, knowing exactly what was wrong, even though she'd punched him in the face for his troubles.

She jabs her hand out. "Give me your phone." She demands.

"No."

After a moment, Tyler grudgingly hands over the phone and Caroline snatches it as soon as he offers it. "Jeez, Caroline—what's wrong with you?"

Caroline doesn't stick around to answer, but she's sure that the suddenly distraught look on her face at the confirmation of her fears will leave Tyler with a lot of questions of his own.

.

Alaric's flat is small and cramped and irritates Klaus even on the best of his days. But today, it is made even more so by the tiresome presence of this infernal doppelganger, once again tied to a chair—wood soaked in vervain, _obviously_—and she won't stop complaining.

"I created her, you know." Katherine is saying. "Shouldn't you be thanking me for giving you your _beloved?_"

Klaus twitches in anger, and Katherine's eyebrows go up. An emotional response from this man is unheard of—and all she has to do is mention Caroline?

"What you did," Klaus responds, his voice icy cold. "Was nothing more than another attempt at wooing your Salvatore brothers. Tell me how that worked out for you."

Katherine glowers at him. Klaus shoots her one of his smirks. If there's anything that he appreciates about being the biggest bad is that look of fear that comes on his enemies faces. They avoid him because they know that when he catches them, that is the end. This is someone who ran from him for five hundred years. He is a force to be reckoned with.

And yet, she continues to talk.

"Ask again in one hundred years," Katherine replies, keeping her voice even. "Then we can exchange stories of lost love."

Klaus growls a little, he can't really help it. How dare she? How _dare _she assume to know what he feels about Caroline and vice versa. He barely knows how to confront Caroline—in a humiliating, no one will ever know fashion.

His relationship with Caroline is the purest thing he's had in a long time. There was no motive is courting her—just simple interest, curiosity he hasn't felt in hundreds of years is what piques her interest. Hell, he's been a better person to Caroline Forbes in the last few months than he has been to anyone in a long time. There was maybe a princess in the fifteenth century—one whose light was impressive but barely flickering compared to Caroline's—but his motive there was still negotiations with her father.

And yes, it's unwise. To be his age and as powerful as he is—to take an interest in someone who could and probably would be his total undoing. (Will be?)

But there are ways to regulate it, of course—ways that he will have to perfect over the years. She won't be known—she can't be. She is too weak to take on even the least worrisome of his opponents—less than a year old in his terms. But if he can keep her a secret, his secret, then there is a chance that this can work.

And while Klaus usually likes having a plan, he feels that Caroline might be something he can count on in the future.

But for the moment, Katherine is the issue. He's taken care of Elena Gilbert and the Salvatore's—he's even wiped Tyler's mind of any memory of his and Caroline's relationship. Katherine must be next—but she's been ingesting vervain every day, and the hassle of waiting for it to leave her system is a requirement at this point. His doppelganger and Tyler were a convenience to Caroline. To make her life easier.

But this knowledge in the hands of Katherine Pierce is too dangerous and he will not let her have it. This will be a job that he does correctly.

Hell, Katherine mentioning Caroline now is enough for him to want to plunge the wood into her heart. (It would be an easy solution, but easy for her as well and Klaus will not let her get away with what she did to him so easily).

Instead, he tries to not let his reaction show. It doesn't work and he curses himself for it.

"You don't speak about her." He says, eyes narrow.

Katherine smirks. "You know she won't love you, don't you?" she says slyly. "Maybe for the first couple of years she'll think she will—but she betrayed her friends last night and eventually, she'll blame you."

"Stop talking." Klaus orders her, not prepared to do anything else. He doesn't want to react with violence, because then the infernal bitch will know that she's got something on him. And he'll never let Katherine Pierce have leverage over him.

Of course, she doesn't heed his warning.

"You know I'm right." She tells him, quirking a challenging brow. "She's not going to forgive herself unless she makes it someone else's fault—and it's going to be you."

Klaus doesn't trust himself to speak. God, why wasn't this woman just sitting quiet and shutting up? He often spoke of the Petrova fire that reminded him of Tatia, but in Katherine it was nothing more than an ugly feature.

"You'll be happy for a while. Ten years, maybe fifteen. But then when her witch friend dies, or her quarterback ex—she'll remind herself that they hate her—and it'll be your fault. She'll resent you for it."

A testament to his capacity to not left his irritation get the best of him, Klaus moves behind her and wrenches her head back, revelling in the slight snap that he knows (from experience) hurts a lot. Katherine remains conscious, but can't help but utter a small whimper.

"If you don't stop talking," Klaus murmurs, lowering his head right next to her ear. "I will eat your voice box and fill the space with wood while it heals. Do you understand?"

Katherine shoots him a defiantly glare but her jaw snaps shut. Now, the only sound in the room is the sound of the flesh burning from her contact with the tainted wood. Klaus scoffs in distaste and wrenches her head away from him, stalking to the other side of the room.

And that's about the moment that his phone rings.

.

Caroline hurries home and tries to figure out the mess that is her brain. Okay. So Tyler doesn't remember anything. Elena, Damon and Stefan don't remember anything. She's not sure why these thoughts are suddenly upsetting her so much, but she can't help it. She thinks to the phone call that she had with Elena (or, shit, was it really Elena? Fuck, it could have been Katherine, for all she knew. Caroline used to pride herself on being able to tell the difference but these days you really had to check for a heartbeat to be sure).

The thing is, while Caroline was worried and terrified about what her friends would do when they realised what she had done and who she had fallen in with—it's still better than only Caroline knowing while her friends continue to blindly trust her.

Not to mention that there's a horrible fear in the back of her stomach, telling her that this maybe isn't the end of it.

Caroline swallows harshly as her stomach tries to leap out her throat.

Frantically, she unlocks Tyler's phone (yeah, the password? It's _2-6-6-2. _And yeah. That does spell out boob) and dials Klaus's number—which of course Tyler has because he's the first hybrid.

He picks up immediately. "Tyler," Klaus addresses him. Caroline can hear the difference in the way he talks to Tyler. He is harsh, and even a bit cold—and it's so dramatically different to the way he talks to her that he puts her on the back foot for a moment.

But she bounces back as fast as she can.

"What did you do to him?" Caroline demands when she manages to form some words. "What did you do to _them?_"

There is a pause on the other end of the line and Caroline reminds herself that this call probably comes as a surprise to him, seeing as this is Tyler's phone. She remembers when he'd called to make sure she wasn't dating Tyler again, and the thought make a part of her want to smile.

But this conversation that they're about to have is far too important. Caroline keeps her mind focused.

"I thought it would help love," Klaus says, his voice soft now. "I didn't think you'd want your friends to know."

Caroline doesn't know how to respond to that, because for all intents and purposes, it does make sense. That is what she wants. She doesn't want her friends to hate her.

But then, there was that tone in Elena's voice when they'd spoken on the phone that had lit a part of Caroline alight with hope. Because maybe there was the slightest chance that forgiveness was an option.

Which reminds her.

"Did you have Katherine call me and pretend to be Elena?" She leaves out the 'because I will never forgive you if you did' because she's not sure if it's the truth or not. But it comes out anyway, unspoken—a hint after her words.

Klaus doesn't reply for a moment (during which, of course, Caroline feels like stabbing herself in the gut just to get rid of the nervous fight going on in there).

"No." He says solidly.

"Are you lying?" she asks immediately.

This time there is no hesitation. "No." He says. "But excuse me for a moment."

Caroline frowns, but doesn't protest (mostly because Klaus hasn't waited for an answer). She hears the clump of his phone being set down and—out of curiosity mostly—tunes her vampire hearing in, to find out what's going on.

"Now," she hears Klaus whisper, his voice cold, heavy and strong again. "Knowing exactly how much you've pissed me off in the last twelve hours—and adding that to how angry you've made me in the last couple of centuries—I would like for you to _think_ about your answer to my next question."

His voice is low, and gravelling and it sends shivers up Caroline's spine.

"Did you call Caroline at any point yesterday or today?"

There is a moment when Caroline wonders if Katherine is going to tell the truth—let alone think about the consequences of the yes or no that will come from her. Katherine doesn't comply wholly, still managing to fit a snarky quip in, but the answer is enough.

"No."

And that makes it worse, because it means that it was Elena that she was talking to. Elena was the one who had sounded forgiving on the phone—Elena was the one that Caroline had spilled her secrets to and finally told the truth.

And now she couldn't even remember.

"You spoke to Elena then," Klaus says, back at the phone.

Caroline nods, and when she remembers that he can't see her, lets out a little noise of affirmation.

"She seemed ready to listen." Caroline said, her voice unsteady.

Klaus pauses. "I'm sorry." He says softly.

"It's not your fault," Caroline says immediately, but apparently that's the wrong thing to say because Klaus falls silent again and doesn't speak for a couple of seconds. He seems to be thinking something over, making a decision in his head and confirming it. It worries her.

"I'm coming to see you." Klaus finally speaks. "I need to see you."

Then he hangs up.

There's a moment when Caroline—who had long since reached her house and has just been standing out the front on the phone—stares blankly at the phone. She turns to look at the house for a moment, as she puts the dots together in her head.

It's not clear—he hasn't given her a hint at all, but she knows the tone of his voice and when she adds up what he's just done she can draw the reasonable conclusion.

She's in the house in seconds, fumbling around in her room and taking far too long to find a piece of paper and a pen. She's glad her mother isn't home, because she's making too much noise and her acting like this would have alarmed Liz. But it doesn't matter for the moment.

Because the conclusion Caroline has drawn is simple. It takes Klaus about three minutes to get to her house—and she writes as much as she can in those three seconds—faster than she's ever written before.

Because she's about ninety percent sure that now that Klaus has wiped her friends memories, and is biding his time to take Katherine's—he's on his way now to do the same thing to her.

.:.

**A/N: **Hopefully this is all making sense. Sorry for confusing you all so much last chapter. I probably should have worked at making more sense, but yes.

Now, I know some of you will be quite angry with me for this little development. So I thought I would appease you with a slice of the Klaus's POV that a lot of you have been asking for since the start, and a peek at his motivation for it all.

And again, I apologise for the wait. I will try very hard to have the next chapter for you tomorrow :) Review please.


	24. our touch will fill every hour

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except an exceptional talent at cooking biscuits that I like to call 'sexymegafoxyawesomehot' biscuits. And I have a batch cooking right now ;)

**Nb. **Be gentle with me.

.:.

"_our touch will fill every hour," _

.:.

Knowing what's at stake, Caroline thinks the next couple of moments through. If she writes down too much for herself—with details and everything that she feels she needs—she won't have time to hide it. So she sticks to the basics. She needs him. He took her memories. She knows it's wrong but she's been conflicted for a while over him and she knows he can be a good man. Fucking punch him in the face the next time you see him.

Still, she doesn't give herself enough time and she's only just folded the two pieces of paper in half (and half again) when she feels him at her bedroom door.

She pauses for a moment, and then throws the paper down as casually as she can manage before lifting her head to look straight at him.

"You know why I'm here." He says softly.

A furious level of anger rises in her and Caroline almost wants to scream. Because she was right. He's here to take away her memories—to rape her mind, and decide what she can and can't remember. How dare he—how could he do this to her?

She glares at him. "Don't do this." She orders.

He looks at her softly but doesn't offer her any response.

She throws her hands into the air in frustration. her mind is conscious of where the paper has fallen-between the screen and keyboard of the computer on her desk—and it's shouting out to her like a beacon. She needs to get him away from it, before he realises what she's trying to do.

"This isn't something you can do to me." Caroline shouts at him. "You don't have the right."

In only a two swift strides, he's kissing her.

Kissing him again is like coming home. She feels a bit indignant—because she knows what she's saying and he needs to understand why she's saying it—and it should be horrifying, because this man is dangerous and terrifying and out to steal his memories. But she's made her choice in that respect, and instead it feels soft and warm and gentle and damn, she's missed this. She's missed _him._

She wraps her arms around his neck as his hands press softly at the small of her back, pulling her closer, drinking her in. His kisses are as desperate as hers feel and Caroline just wants to keep him here.

"Please," she asks him, when their lips part of a moment. "Please let me keep this."

God she's so _pathetic_. Come on. She's an empowered woman and she shouldn't have to beg to keep her memory of this.

But at the same time, she knows that no angry argument that she makes will convince him of this. She knows that the only leverage she has over him is that he says he loves her and he might listen to her if he understands that this isn't what she _wants. _

He only kisses her more firmly.

She just wants to drown in him, just to keep him here and hide away from the rest of the world. It would be easy, to think that she and Klaus could just disappear. He could stop terrifying the general public and she could stop letting down her friends and they could just _go _and just see the world and everything it has to offer.

And maybe, just maybe, that's something he'd be interested in.

"Take me to New York." She whispered against his lips when she once again is able. "We can just leave—and we can go to New York."

There's a good chance that she's repeating herself, but, she thinks as the harsh skin of Klaus's thumb rubs across the skin where her shirt has ridden up, and she's a little distracted. Plus, she's simultaneously trying to think of a way out of what he's got planned.

He groans slightly at her words and his head drops to her shoulder—where he begins to kiss her neck. "I'll take you everywhere, love." He says in between kisses to her collar bone. He finds a spot on Caroline's neck that makes her gasp and linger there, sucking softly at the skin. "I'll take you wherever you like."

Caroline pulls his head back up to kiss him thoroughly, mapping every part of him that it feels like she's forgotten.

He pushes her slightly but she keeps a tight hold of him and pulls him down with her. They land with a slight bounce on her bed, the mattress dipping under their weight so Caroline feels even more surrounded when his weight presses down on her sweetly. He peppers her with light kisses now, as though he too is trying to recall everything they haven't had since Tyler discovered them.

"Where?" Caroline asks, as her hands move and roam his front, lifting his shirt and running her fingers across the panes of his chest.

He groans and leans into her touch, and presses a heavy kiss to her lips.

"France," he says when he pulls back.

"The Eiffel Tower?" she asks, trying to keep her thoughts straight as she moves her hands back up and threads her fingers through his curly hair.

He scoffs, while he's kissing her which is a weird experience but it still makes her smile. "Tourist," he whispers to her. "I won't show you anything less than the best."

She frowns a little. "Like what?"

"I'll take you to the Lavender gardens and Mont Saint Michel. There's a patisserie just outside of Paris owned by the family that used to cook for King Louis XVI. I've never been partial to human food, but there is always an exception." Klaus murmurs.

Caroline grins at him. "Where else will we go?"

Klaus leans back a bit to grin at her. He frames her head with his arms and looks down at her with a fondness she's never seen before.

"Anywhere you want." He tells her.

"Tell me." She asks softly, before leaning up to capture his lips again.

It doesn't make much sense that she wants him to talk to her while she kisses him, but he manages it. He tells her about London and parts of Scotland where he owns a castle. He tells her about Australia and the barrier reef and the sun and the beaches. He tells her about Tahiti and Fiji, and then he talks about Rio and Prague, and Peru. He talks about Africa—and the pyramids of Egypt. Then he talks about Rome and they're back to Europe. There are so many places he's going to take her, and Caroline smiles because she knows that she's got him.

They'll run away and they'll see the word and Caroline will just forget.

They lose track of talking after a while. It's getting hotter and hotter in the room and Caroline mind is getting less and less focused. He seems more and more intent, however, as he kisses down her front—discarding her shirt with ease and tossing it away from them.

He kisses her breast, where she's breathing heavily from the moment. She stills when his lips kiss to top of her. She's still wearing a bra, but he moves down and his lips seal around her swollen nub, through the cotton, and she groans softly. Her fingers are in his hair again and she throws her head back and remembers how much she's missed this.

He, apparently, feels the same way.

"Missed this," he mutters into her skin. "Missed you."

He kisses her breast again before sneaking his hands around her back. He lifts her slightly—or her back arches, she's not really sure—and then she's topless beneath him and his ravaging her breasts again. She groaning and moaning and her hips begin to thrust up against the air until he moves a little forward again and then his solid thigh is pressed against the apex of her thighs.

She nods her head urgently, unable to stop herself from seeking out the friction. "I missed you to." She whispers, her head thrown back.

She realises, belatedly, that she's never been a girl who just lays back and lets it happen—and she pushes slightly, rolling the two of them until she's on top and looking down at him. She leans forward and kisses him again, bringing her hips higher until she's straddling him. She can feel him, hard, right where she needs him to be, and she can't help it as she presses down and grinds.

He lets out a shout, his hands coming up to grab her waist and hold her down while she moves. The shout turns into a loud groan that she leans down to swallow, before she gets rid of his shirt as well. She divests him of his pants as well—oh god, he's commando—before she settles back, this time sitting on his knees.

She's got him in her mouth before Klaus can catch her eye and he lets out another noise, his hips jerking slightly. Caroline backs off a bit, so she doesn't choke, before she moves back down. She wraps her hand around the base, softly moving while her lips wrap around the tip and her other hand fingers his balls. He's making fantastic noises now, and it fills her with an incredibly satisfied feeling when she thinks that this is all a reaction to her—to what she's doing for him.

She continues for a couple of minutes—long enough to be impressed at his self restraint—but he pulls her up and off before he comes, and switches the positions again, pressing her down into the mattress. "Love you so much, sweetheart," he whispers into her ear before he kisses her again. His voice is low and husky, and he leans closer to his ear. "My turn." Those two words send an electric shock down between her legs, and then his hand is palming her through her jeans—which, how is she still wearing those?

He kisses down her body softly, until he reaches her belly button. He presses a swift kiss there as well, before leaning back and taking a hold of the front of her jeans. They're skinny leg, so they prove to be a bit of a hassle to get off, but he manages it without breaking the mood—and even if he hadn't—the sight of him returning to her and kneeling between her legs is enough to silence Caroline's amusement.

He's never been one to hesitate, and this is no different. He leans forward and licks her once, twice, swiftly before he's pulled her clit into his mouth and sucking _beautifully._ She jerks slightly, thrusting towards his mouth and clenching her fists around the bed sheets so she doesn't grab his head. He runs his tongue across her clit a couple of times, as he slips two fingers in her passage and curls his fingers.

Caroline keens at the fabulous pressure that curls and releases in her stomach, unable to completely keep her hips from moving in desire for more of that fabulous friction. She's still coming down from that first high when he's up and inside her and she's feeling the same bliss all over again.

He kisses her again and thrusts upwards as Caroline crosses her legs around his back and tugs him in deeper. Words have escaped them and they're not saying anything understandable—just gasps of 'god,' and 'Klaus' and 'Caroline' and 'I missed you' and 'I love you'.

They rock together, the pace increasing steadily until the friction finally becomes too much and Caroline comes for the second time while he spills himself into her, and presses a solid kiss to her lips.

(They'll run away and they'll see the word and Caroline will just forget).

.

Of course, once they've calmed and Caroline's lying exhausted on Klaus's bare chest, his fingers toying with her hair, he speaks and shatters the illusion.

"But not now, sweetheart." Klaus's voice says so quietly that she almost misses it.

She doesn't though, and she freezes, tensing in his arms and not even able to stop the short inhalation.

His arms tense right back around her.

She closes her eyes and tries not to think too hard, not to let the tears out. Because what does that even mean? He's going to what—take her memories and then get a second chance to take her heart? Get a do over? Even if he tells her the truth in his second try, it will still be a lie because he will have taken that part of her.

"Why?" she asks, her voice wavering slightly.

Klaus leaves a momentary pause. "Because I need to love."

"You've got me," Caroline protests, pushing out of his embrace and rolling away, so that she can sit up and look at him. "We're here—together. Why do you need to ruin it?"

Klaus grimaces, looking at her. His eyes are filled with sadness—an open emotion that Caroline finds it hard to look at because she's never seen him be so open with her. In any other situation, this would entertain her. This is Klaus—_Klaus—_the biggest bad that there is, and he's looking at her like he would die for her.

But she can't be entertained by that. She can't even be happy that he's looking at her like that.

Because she's so _freaking pissed._

"I'm sorry, love."

Caroline pushes herself out of his grasp, out of the bed and snatches his shirt from the floor. She pulls it on—and the sleeves are too long for her arms, and the body falls past her butt—but at least now she's covered and they can hash this out.

"Don't you dare." She orders him furious. "You have a choice here—to have me, or to lose me—and you're making the _wrong decision._"

He just watches her sadly.

She lets out a frustrated scream.

"If you do this to me, I will never forgive you. I'll remember one day—and I don't care how long it takes—I will. I will find out what you did and I will _never forgive _you." She tells him.

He physically flinches, and closes his eyes. But he recovers relatively quickly though, and pushes himself to his feet as well. He pulls on his pants—but leaves his jeans unbuttoned.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart."

She shoots him a vicious glare. "Don't _even._"

There's a moment of silence, as Caroline moves around, collecting her clothes from the ground. She pulls on her discarded underwear and another wave of anger hits her. She spins around to shout at him some more.

"What was this for you?" she demands, gesturing wildly to the whole room. "A goodbye bang? I am not some game for you to play—you asshole—and you don't get a do over. You don't get to wipe your slate clean and replace it with different memories. I want _these _ones. I don't want new ones."

Klaus frowns.

"This isn't a do over, love." He tells her softly. "And this?" he mimics her gesture to the room, only softer and calmer. "This was everything to me."

She scrunches up her nose. "Why at you lying to me?"

The look she gets from that is a mix of sympathy and sadness and it hits her in the gut. He moves quickly—too quickly for her to really move or react to it—and he pulls her into a soft, great smelling hug. She leans into him before she can think about it, and then curses her body's stupid betrayal.

"I'm not," Klaus murmurs in her ear. "I promise, I'm not."

She shoves him away from her. "What does that count for?" she demands. "How would I know? You're going to _take _my memories—which means that I will never be able to trust you again."

Klaus shakes his head. "I'll give them back."

Caroline freezes again.

Mostly because she _hadn't _been expecting that.

"What?" She breathes softly.

Klaus steps forward and cups her face in his hands again. He tilts her head so she's looking right at him and presses a short, sweet kiss to her lips.

"This isn't a do-over for me, love." He tells her. "This is for you. You're not ready to be with me, darling, and I can't force you to be."

Eloquently, Caroline's response is once again: "What?"

He smiles at her, still looking sad.

"Once you're ready, Caroline," he mutters—her name sounding beautiful and sincere on his lips— "Once you're ready for us to be a reality you'll remember everything. I promise."

This time she doesn't doubt what his promise means. He's looking into her eyes and he's more sincere than she's ever seen him and she understand—she does. She believes that this is really what he'll do for her.

But she still doesn't want it.

"I'm ready now." She protests—but her voice is quiet and soft and there's no fire behind her words.

He shakes his head slowly. "No, love, you're not. You're young—and we have all the time in the world. I can wait."

She frowns.

"How do you know I'm not ready?" she asks him. "Isn't that my decision?"

Klaus considers her for a moment, his thumb softly stroking her cheek.

"I think you think you're ready for this, love." He tells her. "But you betrayed your friends for me last night and that will always be my fault. I don't want to be something bad in your life. I don't want to be something you're exhausted by. I want to be something that makes you happy and makes your day brighter. I will be that for you—but not for a while."

Caroline takes a deep breath and thinks for a moment.

"Why?" she asks finally. "Why me? What is so special about me?"

And he chuckles.

The bastard chuckles.

"You're beautiful, you're strong. You're full of light. _I love you._"

The words send a shiver down her spine and she gasps a bit, licking her lips. God, it's after declarations like this that she's supposed to launch herself at him and have her wicked way with him—not want to cry and realise that this is goodbye.

But not forever. It's not forever and he'll come back for her and then he'll show her the world.

"I love you." Caroline says quietly.

Klaus wipes a tear from where it begins to fall from her eye and shakes his head. "You will, when you're ready for that kind of love. But don't worry. I love you now, and I'll love you when you're ready for it."

She tries one more tactic.

"How do you know I'll ever be ready?" she asks. "If I'm not ready."

Klaus considers her with a fond, sad smile for a moment. He tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Because last night—when Damon was going to stake me and before Stefan stepped in, you shouted out my name."

Caroline frowns. That wasn't what she was expecting. "What?" she asks again.

Klaus smiles. He presses a swift kiss to the top of her head and then one last, desperate kiss to her mouth. Then he pressed their foreheads together. "You called me Nik." He says softly.

Caroline gasps in surprise and lifts her head to meet his eye.

.

Caroline wakes up with the weirdest empty feeling in her stomach and a bit of a headache. She supposes it probably has something to do with their abysmal failure of an attack last night—fucking Stefan and messing up their plan—and she, for the hundredth time, wishes that aspirin worked on vampires.

As she pushes herself from her bed she frowns slightly at the tidiness of her room. When did she do that?

Oh god. If her mother cleaned her room, she'll never hear the end of it.

But, Caroline thinks—she did miss a spot. She bends down to pick up the tiny torn pieces of paper that cover the floor and she frowns. When the hell did she do that?

Whatever, she thinks. It couldn't have been important and there's no way she'll waste her day putting it back together. She tosses the remains of the paper in the trash and turns to leave. She'll be wanted at the Salvatore house, soon. They need to think of another way to kill Klaus and they need to do it fast.

.:.

**A/N: **OKAY. BEFORE THE HATE MAIL COMES STREAMING IN, PLEASE READ THESE FEW POINTS.

1. There is an epilogue to come, and I hate sad endings. KEEP THAT IN MIND.

2. She said I love you. So that's something.

3. Look at the **SEX. **If you're really feeling upset, go right back up there and read it :DDDDD (I made that smiley look like a penis on purpose).

4. I love you all, you're all brilliant people and I hate to make you angry with me for a plot like this. The reviews for last chapter indicated that a lot of you weren't happy with this.

5. It is a short chapter. I know, and I apologise. I had to take out like four pages of sexy time and I didn't have anything else to add to the dialogue. So sorry for that as well.

We reached 1000 reviews, and for that I love you to the moon and back. Please keep reviewing (and please no flames). I'll have the epilogue out tomorrow :)


	25. this is the reason for dreaming

**Disclaimer: **I would LIKE to have Jesse Eisenberg and/or Andrew Garfield totally in love with me. Unfortunately, that is never going to happen. Instead, I have a laptop and a vivid imagination.

**Nb. **I AM SO PISSED AT MYSELF. There was this line, that I'd had in my head since the start of this fic specifically for last chapter, and I fucking forgot to put it in. Arrg. I'm going to go back and edit it now but it's not the same because you've already read it all and ahhh, why Sam, why?

Also, to April, the reviewer who was interested in talking to me, I would reply to your question but I need you to PM me, because I won't be replying public forum. Just send me a message and we'll chat :)

Ugh. Whatever. It's been a wild ride folks, and to be honest, the fact that I've made it to the end without you all hating me is fantastic. Hopefully this chapter lives up to expectations.

.:.

_"This is the reason for dreaming,"_

.:.

Not at all content to be sitting around on her eightieth birthday, Liz Forbes is bustling around in the kitchen when her daughter finds her. The party with most of the people from town had been earlier, and they'd had to excuse Caroline's absence by saying she'd be around later. While that was technically the case, mostly it was because Caroline was holding a second party—this one with an entirely different guest list—to celebrate.

And, also, because she is seventeen—and since it's technically been about forty years since that particular birthday—Caroline's agelessness is bound to cause questions.

The party had technically started only about five minutes ago, but Liz had always been a police officer, who followed the rules, and she's muttering to herself as she looks around for their yet to arrive guests.

Resting a comforting hand on her mother's shoulder, Caroline takes another look around the room and then glances out the window. Rubbing her shoulder she sighs. "They'll be here, mom. They promised."

Liz grumbles something but the noise blends with the sound of an arriving car engine out the front and Caroline sighs in relief. She wasn't really ready to continue to deal with her mother's temper. While the years had been quite kind to Liz Forbes, with age came less self restraint and these days her mother didn't really have any qualms about speaking her mind.

"That'll be them now." Caroline says quickly, patting her mother one last time before heading to the door.

She greets Elena and Damon with a grateful look and wide eyes.

"Thank god, you're here." She says, beckoning them inside.

It will always be a bit weird to see Elena and Damon. Caroline doesn't see them very often these day—they'd settled in Italy in about 2025, in one of the villas that Damon had owned since the end of the nineteenth century, and Caroline was living in an apartment in Prague so they didn't often see each other. But it was weird, because Elena hadn't been turned until she was twenty five in 2019, so the age difference between Damon and Elena was closer, but the difference between her and Caroline always kind of took Caroline by surprise.

But whatever.

It looks like they brought chilli which is always exciting, if not a little predictable.

Elena pulls Caroline in for a hug without hesitation and Caroline squeezed her back tightly. "It's so good to see you, Care." Elena gushes. "Where's your mom?"

"In the kitchen." Caroline says, pulling away. She takes the chilli that Elena has handed to her, and looks to Damon.

There's a moment when he probably thinks she's going to settle for a nod, but she goes for the hug as well. She likes him—it doesn't matter their history. Comparatively, she's only known him for a couple of years of her life—and while she has a long time to keep it up, she hopes that he continue to be a small part of her life.

So she hugs him.

Damon takes a moment but then he goes for it, which is nice. It doesn't last long but he manages to smile at her and look sincere which probably took a lot of effort from him.

When they pull apart, Elena is smiling at him like they've just given her a puppy or something, and Caroline rolls her eyes slightly.

"She's been dying to see you, by the way." Caroline tells them as they both step inside. She's talking mostly to Damon, to be honest (she'd never really understood why, but he'd always had a weird friendship going on with her mom), but Liza has also been looking forward to seeing Elena.

When she leads the two of them into the kitchen, she smiles seeing her mom's face light up.

Funnily enough, Liz also rolls her eyes. "You look as young as you ever did—of course." She laughs sarcastically, before holding out her arms.

Watching Elena hug her mother is a bit weird because when they were young Liz was never really a touchy feely kind of woman. Watching Damon hug her is just kind of funny.

"Has anyone else arrived yet?" Liz looks to her daughter.

Caroline smiles sweetly at her. "I'll go check." She says. Liz is too busy fawning over Elena and Damon to really note her daughter's response and the reaction makes Caroline smile.

She waits at the door for the rest of the guests. Bonnie and Jeremy arrive first, both of them now closer to Liz's age than they are to Caroline's—with two of their kids already graduated and one a senior student. Tyler shows up after that, with Mrs. Lockwood on one of his arms and his long term girlfriend Haley on the other. Matt arrives a little later with his wife and their thirteen year old, Vic—he got married early but they'd been having trouble getting pregnant and the insemination clinic had taken a while. Now they were those old parents that people couldn't tell were parents or grandparents—but they looked so happy no one gave a crap.

That's the grand total of their party, and it's nice. Stefan was invited but he's hopping the globe with Rebekah and couldn't quite make it. When they got together there were a couple of years when no one was happy with it. Everyone had been surprised when Damon was the first to forgive him, but they're brothers and Caroline knows if she had a sibling and they'd been turned with her, she wouldn't spend too long being angry. Damon and Stefan have gotten past whatever issues held them back for the first hundred years and pursuing a more sibling like relationship these days.

They see everyone as often as they can—usually at Carol or Liz's birthday parties because that's what they need. Caroline has flown in for each of Bonnie's kids graduations, as well as their first few birthdays—but seeing Bonnie get steadily older and older is strange (yeah—because she's immortal and she finds aging weird now) but the only consolation is that she looks happy.

Like, really, really happy.

She notes, with a pang, that Liz watches Bonnie with a fondness that Caroline can't possess yet. Because Bonnie is alive and has kids and has had a proper life. She and Jeremy have had their problems but they've never come remotely close to really ending things (not since he won her back in an extravagant declaration of love that Bonnie had called Caroline about straight afterwards, even though the time difference from Virginia and Rio (where Caroline had been living at the time with a South American couple who'd shown her how to cliff jump).

("Oh, my god, Caroline—he told me he loves me."

It was an enthusiastic phone call, and Bonnie had been practically hyperventilating, which was so out of character for her usually sensible friend that Caroline had known this was big.

"Calm down. Now what exactly did he say?"

"He said that Anna was a mistake. That he'd been happy to die for her—but being with me reminded him that there were some people worth living for and he didn't want to lose. He wants to spend the rest of his life with me. I think I love him, Caroline!")

The thing was, Bonnie had the life that Liz had always wanted for Caroline. Probably with Matt, if Caroline was still alive, but Caroline's pretty sure that wouldn't have worked out either way. Matt still looks at Elena with a glint in his eye—and it's not just because she still looks twenty five.

Damon was always less than two feet from her, though, so it doesn't matter too much, and Matt looked at his wife, Katie, with more devotion than he'd looked at Elena ever. Maybe it was just a lingering first love thing.

"Still single then, ex?" Tyler laughs from across the room, Hayley sitting snugly next to him, his arm around her waist.

Caroline rolls her eyes as she drops into the free seat on the couch opposite them.

"Single and ready to mingle," she says with a wink. They'd taken to the nickname a while ago, and even though they'd tried to calm it down when Hayley had first entered the picture, they'd quickly realised that she didn't care. She and Tyler made an amazing couple and she seemed totally confident in the fact that she had his wrapped around her little finger.

"Seriously, barbie," Damon says, from his spot on the couch. Elena is sitting on the floor, resting her back on the front of the couch between his legs, and leaning slightly on his knee. "When are you going to settle down?"

Caroline shrugs. "When being single loses its appeal," she says simply before taking a quick draw of the alcohol in her hand.

The thing is, though, that it's doing exactly that. She can see all the couples in the room—who look so content to just sit with each other, comforted by each other's company that she can't help being jealous. It's not like she's been looking or anything—no one she's met in forty years seems right at all—but she's getting tired by the constant loneliness of her empty apartment in Prague.

She shrugs off those depressed thoughts. Maybe it's time for another relocation, she thinks. A bit closer to home now that Liz is reaching the end of her years.

"How's Italy?" she changes the subject expertly, taking a smaller sip of her drink.

Elena bursts into an explanation of the vineyards at this time of year and how she should definitely come and visit as soon as possible, and Caroline leans back in her seat. While she does this, Damon's hand drops softly to her shoulder, and stays there. Elena leans into instinctively and Caroline nod.

Yeah, she wouldn't mind having someone like that in her life.

Once Elena's finished talking about Italy, she turns to Caroline. "Did you hear that they've got a game tomorrow for the school?" she asks.

Mystic Falls high is still as embroiled in football culture as it's ever been, and Caroline nods. Of course she's heard—this is still a small town, after all, and a foot ball game is the most excitement they'll get for a while.

"I was thinking we should go," Elena says with a grin. "See how the cheerleading team is doing without your fantastic leadership."

Bonnie laughs. "Jamie hates the cheerleaders," she says, referring to the last of her children at school.

Caroline rolls her eyes. "That's cause Jamie's a dork."

Bonnie fakes offence but they all laugh at Caroline's words, even while Liz tries to look ashamed at her daughter's antics. Caroline just giggles. The upside of staying young forever is that she can continously utilise her god given bitchiness.

Once the laughter has passed, Tyler nods his head. "No—we should totally go. I want to see how bad the football team is without us!" he says enthusiastically, lifting his hand in the air expectantly. Matt doesn't let him down and, with a laugh, lifts his fist to bump against Tyler's. It's a bit of a weird sight, seeing as Tyler is still seventeen and Matt's in his late fifties, but it makes Caroline smile.

"Probably better," she says casually.

The look that Tyler now gives her is deadly and it makes everyone laugh.

Vic, who thus far has spent the evening hiding near her parents, runs over and jumps into the seat next to Caroline. She's a pretty little girl, just like her namesake—only hopefully not as addicted to drugs in her future. She's inherited her mother's dark hair which means that she actually looks a lot like Matt's sister, and it's a bit uncanny. Caroline wonders what she'll look like in a couple of years.

"There's a new person living in our building." Vic informs her excitably, wide eyes waiting for Caroline's response.

"Is there?" Caroline asks with a smile. Her gaze slips to Matt, who's chuckling to himself and shrugging at Caroline's inquisitive gaze before she looks back to his daughter. "What are they like?"

Vic looks excited to be included in conversation and immediately bursts into an explanation of the man who's now living in the flat above them. Matt and Katie bought one of the first apartment complex's in Mystic Falls—which isn't saying much since there's only the two on each side of town. It's more of an apartment village, if you think about it, a long row of white two story buildings—two flats in each. But the one above them has been vacant for a while now, so it serves that Vic's excited.

"He's tall and he talks funny." Vic says. "Mum and Dad didn't meet him—but he said hello from his veranda this morning."

Caroline grins. "Well that's very nice of him. Did he introduce himself?"

Caroline knows it's probably a bit alarming that Vic, a ridiculously innocent thirteen year old, has met this unfamiliar man by herself—but Matt doesn't look tense at all so Caroline thinks he's not too worried.

Vic grins enthusiastically.

"He did," she nods her head. "His name's Nick."

.

The next day, Caroline makes her way to the Mystic grill and slips into one of the wall booths. It's been long enough that the teenagers that hang out here these days don't recognise her—but she knows that she'll only be able to come out like this for a couple of years until people begin to question her unchanging face.

Still, a couple of years is better than nothing.

She doesn't order anything for the moment, not at all sure what she feels like drinking, and instead stares blankly at the menu—her mind far away and on other things.

Moving from Prague shouldn't be an issue. Her time there should be up soon anyway—again, she needs to move before her face starts to rouse suspicion. They still haven't quite True Blood-ed it and come out of the coffin (god she _loved_ that show. Whenever it's on reruns, she curls up on her couch and with a blood bag) so she doesn't want to get too much unnecessary attention.

She has options from now, obviously. She has already done the Australia route—but it's been a long enough time that she could head back. She visited Paris and Rome and Tokyo, but something about those countries gave her a weird feeling in her stomach and a headache so she left them pretty quickly.

Maybe Asia, she thinks for a bit. She could spend some time in Singapore or Indonesia. Ooh, she hasn't done India yet.

There's a bell from behind her, indicating that someone's just come in, and the hairs on Caroline's neck stand up—but she pays them no mind. She's a vampire. She can handle any threat.

Her phone vibrates and Caroline smiles fondly when she reads the message.

_We're leaving now, but we'll see you soon_, Elena has texted sweetly. _Damon says that you should find a man soon—so you can prove to your mother that you won't be an eternal spinster. _

Caroline shakes her head at that. Most of Damon's snarky comments had lost their effect now—mostly because it was amusing to see how much of a whipping boy he was when Elena laid down the law. She would go visit them soon, Caroline decides. After all—vineyards.

Caroline refocuses her attention on the menu and pauses, having just decided what drink she wants to get when a hand reaches out in front of her and pushes a strawberry milkshake to her.

There is a moment, a heartbeat (if she had one) and then it's all coming back.

As the memories all come rushing back to her in a blinding haze, Caroline feels her emotions overwhelm her. She feels everything that she felt in those months, just in her memory and on top of it all she feels a complete, unadulterated happiness because she can remember and that means she ready to be with him. She clenches her hands around the corners of the table and her fingers make indents as she struggles to stay grounded in this moment.

Once it's passed, and Caroline can lift her head again her body is still in overdrive and she feels like her heart should be thundering. But she manages to overcome it and lifts her head to look across the table and see the face of the person offering her the drink.

"You look like you needed it, love."

His smirk is the same. It's been forty years—which probably feels like a blink of the eye to him, but feels much longer to her—and he still has the same fashion sense, the same wise eyes and the same confidence that makes him so utterly attractive.

"You _asshole." _

And then she's kissing him.

.:.

**A/N: **Well? I'm not really sure what to say now that this fic has finished. It's been a blast and I've loved every second of it—even though I wouldn't wish that kind of writers block on anyone ever. I'm glad that everyone who read it was so interested and I love that I've managed to make you all so happy—I never in a million years thought that I would write something that would garner this much attention, so thank you so, so much.

Acknowledgements to the Broadway musical: 'The Spring Awakening', which is just so fantastic that it hurts a little, and the song 'The Guilty Ones' which I've played more than a thousand times as I write this. Look it up on youtube guys .The OBC Lea Michelle/Jonathan Groff version is fantastic.

Thanks for sticking with me. And now, I want **EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO IS READING THIS TO LEAVE ME A REVIEW.** A fond adieu, if you will.

Kisses and hugs to all of you a squillion times over, and keep an eye out for some other Klaroline fics from me, because I've been struck by inspiration :P

PS. In regards to a sequel, I'm not sure if I'll write another multichapter fic, but there may well be some oneshots chronicling their future. Let me know if' you'd be interested.


	26. AUTHORS NOTE

**HEY **guys!

A HUGE **sorry **to all those of you who saw the update alert and shit a brick (because I'm unreliable, because I'm mean, etc) because this isn't another chapter of klaroliney goodness, but just a boring, lame old authors note.

BUT, on the other hand, I would like some help from you all.

(**Before** that however, I also want to say: **THANK YOU ALL FOR THE ABSOLUTELY BRILIANT RESPOND TO THIS FIC. I KNOW I PULL REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE LIKE IT'S DENTAL SURGERY AND YES, I AM WORKING ON FIXING THAT AGGRESSIVE PART OF MY SOUL, BUT YOU GUYS RESPONDED WITH SO MUCH ENTHUSIASM AND BLIND LOVE THAT I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY. YOU ARE ALL LOVELY BRILLIANT PEOPLE AND I LOVE YOU ALL. Srsly tho. ROCK ON MY FRIENDS.)**

_Onto more sane topics,_ (:D) I am very keen to get on with the one shot idea that you guys are responded fairly pleasantly to, but I'm not really sure what sort of things you guys are looking for. I was thinking that I might do a companion story, with each chapter a different snippet of their continued lives, et al.

ON THAT NOTE, I implore you to message me or let me know in reviews **what sort of things you're looking for** in a follow up. I will _reserve the right to agree or disagree _with suggestions, but I'd love to head what you guys are interested in reading.

So just send me a review or message me via my authors page with what you want to see. And yes, I will include M rated scenes on my Tumblr again ;)

Messages can follow this kind of template:

**HELLO SAM. **(Thats me. For those of you who didn't already know that).

**I AM ONE OF YOUR FABULOUS, DEDICATED AND SUPER BITCHIN' REVIEWERS/READERS. (HEAR ME ROAR). **

**I WOULD LIKE TO SEE KLAROLINE PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK WITH THE OTHER ORIGINALS/PISSING DAMON OFF ENDLESSLY/BEING ALL ROUND BAD ASS POWER COUPLE/HITTING UP EXOTIC LOVE LOCATIONS/ACCIDENTALLY EXPOSING THE VAMPIRE CAUSE/KILLING PEOPLE'S FAIRY GODMOTHERS ETC **(herein, you can tell me what your thoughts are and such. Also, please ignore the shameless True Blood plagiarism).

**IF IT PLEASES YOU, I WILL FIND AND KIDNAP ANDREW GARFIELD FOR YOU. HE WILL ARRIVE IN FOUR TO SIX WORKING DAYS. **(Oh, sweethearts, that DOES please me. You all know me so well!)

**KISSES AND HUGS. **

Insert **SUPAMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOTREVIEW ERBIZNITCHNAME **here.

Of course, I will take all suggestions into account, figure out if I can do them how I can work them out and connect them together **ETC** and then when it's finished, I'll repost a note in this story letting you all know to check it out.

Thoughts? Queries? Comments?

(Not sure if I'm allowed to do this prompt thing on here, or not, but I'm a shit blogger so we'll have to work on the dark side of the law). (Boom).

Stay cool bros. Peace out.

PS. Watch Aaron Sorkin's new show. It's called **The Newsroom** and it's fantastic.

PPS. Seriously. It's like _almost-kind-of-maybe-might-get-there_ as good as the West Wing.

PPPS. Same for The Social Network.

**PPPPS. God, Aaron Sorkin, just employ me already! **


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